twangster

In Canada where I grew up we had the Molson scale. While normally applied to other subjects I find it applicable to Sorrentos. I'm on Indy now and pizza is a 10! (On the Molson scale).

Harmony is a wonderful ship! The two sisters will be very similar but there are subtle differences that we know of so far. What appears to be an awesome sports bar on Symphony. A seafood restaurant. Honestly until launch some differences are based on leaks, teases and tidbits. Harmony is great. Wow, what a ship. You can't go wrong booking her. My expectations are that Symphony will be equally a big Wow! Likely 99% more similar than different than Harmony. Much like Oasis is very similar to Allure with subtle differences but both equally fantastic. Symphony will home port in a brand new Miami based terminal. That looks to be an experience on its own. It's under construction right now

At adult eye level there is typically a lock. I guess a kid could slide a chair over and reach it but it isn't easy to operate. Some ships are darn near adult proof. 12 yo might be able to reach it. Can't remember Allure.

Everyone needs to stop buying Star class so I have a chance. Until then my budget limit is Sky class. ?

While I agree about Sky class perks Voom isn't exactly free. It's just bundled in. Odds are future sky class prices are already being edged up.

Yes! I saw crew bringing towels and linens out of there on Indy. Big changes coming to that general area with the new panorama cabins on the deck above. Freedom also had sliding doors to walkways above the solarium pool that are missing on Indy. Curious if those will be added since they are diverting the jogging track to add the new cabins in this area. Freedom still has a deck 6 Loyalty Desk in the aft elevator lobby that is being consumed on Indy for cabins. The Connoisseur Club was pretty busy last night. Sad to see it go. I had an interesting talk with a bartender who is staying on during the dry dock. It's his 4th or 5th dry dock. He says the contractors are big drinkers. They work during the day then drink, drink, drink at night.

Housekeeping items Three formal nights on this holiday cruise. The regular sea day formal nights plus Christmas Day. The $25 OBC offered upon boarding has been rescinded. Since they boarded on time they've decided it doesn't apply. The announcement channel control in my cabin actually works! During the day it plays the same background music that plays in the halls and public areas. Changing time back to Eastern overnight at 2am. While Freedom had sliding doors from deck 11 aft elevator lobby to the H2O pool area, Indy has revolving doors. I have found the revolving doors to be slow and less efficient. A pop rain storm occurred earlier. The revolving doors really impeded traffic flow trying to escape the rain. I'll be curious to see if these are changed during the dry dock. I wandered around looking at some areas of the ship that we known will be changed in the dry dock based on this blog post: Deck by deck drydock changes to Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas It should be interesting, looking forward to seeing how she looks afterwards. Crew has been excellent. Not a single grumpy crew experience so far. My Time MDR service possibly the best I've experienced. No signs of any viruses so far with one day left to go. Washy washy.

Bridge Tour! I'm like a little kid when it comes to seeing the bridge. Maybe it's all the lights, dials, buttons and knobs. Maybe it's the incredible power under their control. In the holiday spirit the port bridge wing was decorated with red garland while the starboard bridge wing was decorated with green garland. A bridge officer gave a little talk showing the various navigation and radar systems at their disposal. We would normally be doing 18 knots but with the medical diversions yesterday we are doing 20 knots. That requires operating four of the main engines or generators. Normally we would be using three. To reach the top speed of 22 knots they would call on five generators. Independence of the Seas like other Freedom class has ample power. With 13,000 sq. meters of side surface approaching a pier in high winds uses a lot of that power. In St. Kitts yesterday a Carnival ship approached but aborted and skipped the port because of the winds. We had no issue making port and could have with an additional 10 knots of wind speed working against us. One last look at the Captain's chair and the Master's view forward.

Day 8 - Sea Day We made an unscheduled stop in St. Thomas at 3am for an injured crew member. The Captain made a PA announcement that woke me up and then I could feel the ship maneuver into port. We are running at 20-21 knots presumably to try to make up some time. Bridge tour this morning. It's time for a trip to the Windjammer.

Okay, here we go. It was tough to pick the best, but here are some of the photos from the ice skating show "Strings". With virtually no time between scenes these folks are masters at fast wardrobe changes. On this cruise free tickets were required for all Ice Skating shows. They made announcements when they could be obtained or for Diamond level folks the concierge in the lounge also had tickets.

Day 7 - St. Kitts As planned I never left the ship today. I was here a week or so ago on Anthem and went scuba diving. After three port days and excursions on each, today was a ship day. On the pier in Antigua yesterday I ran into Cole and his mother. He is the skater in the ice show on Indy. They loved the holiday skating show photos I shared and asked if I was going to the the regular (non-holiday) skating show "Strings" that evening. Of course I was, I never miss the ice show on Royal Caribbean. I took over 1,400 photos at the ice show last night and used today to go through them and narrow them down. My camera can take take several photos in rapid succession which is great for action photography. I never use most of them but capturing a burst of photos gives you a better chance of getting some good ones. "Strings" is a very good show. I've sent them a link to 282 of the best ones I narrowed it down to. I'll avoid posting 282 photos in this post but it will take some effort to narrow it down to a handful. We left St. Kitts at 4:30pm. Leading up to that time the ship's horn signaled several times. I assumed someone was missing the ship. We departed and began sailing away when later we turned around. It turns out a passenger who missed the ship had some specialized medicine and the Captain made the decision to return to port to retrieve them. 7:40pm we departed St. Kitts a second time. I don't know the exact circumstances but trust the Captain made the correct decision given the options available.

Royal Caribbean is trying to streamline the boarding process and minimize what you have to do in the terminal on boarding day. On some ships I've gotten a little card taped to me SeaPass card given to me in the terminal. On newer ships like Harmony and Anthem my SeaPass card was waiting for me outside my cabin and a letter in the cabin contained my Voom code. As Project Excalibur moves forward and they further enhance the check in process I'd expect more ships and terminals to skip providing the Voom cards in the terminal but that's pure speculation on my part.

Day 6 - Antigua Today's excursion was "Amazing Antigua" an island bus tour. Bus tours aren't always my thing but our guide June did a great job explaining the island's rich history. Antiqua has traded hands a few times several hundred years ago before becoming part of the British Commonwealth. The British used it a base of operations to manage and control their interests in the Caribbean in the days of tall ships and pirates. June explained who was the founding father of Antigua, slavery in its early years and many interesting buildings we would pass. This church was made of red and green bricks. The red bricks were used as ballast in the ships as they came here and was traded for sugar cane. The green bricks come from nearby Monserrat. Ash from the volcano would line the bricks as they were being made and the chemical reaction would turn the bricks green. The museum I took pictures of on my last trip here is thought to be the oldest building in Antigua and used to be the courthouse hundreds of years ago. We drove through the country side before reaching Shirley Heights. This was a military complex used to defend the island and it has a commanding view of the Atlantic ocean. At one time seven canons sat on the pads in an arch. The powder magazine where gun powder was stored. The views are fantastic. Part of the complex on a neighboring hilltop overlooks English Harbor. There is a restaurant (closed on this boxing day holiday) and some local merchants. Our guide June explained that all school children must wear uniforms except for one day of the year. June showed an Emancipation doll from one of the vendors in the colors of emancipation that both men, woman and school children wear on this annual day of celebration. Amazing views of the harbor below that for hundreds of years was provided shelter for ships in storms and hurricanes. From here we went to Nelson's Dockyard within English Harbor, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Rich in naval history it was a British dockyard where ships would be repaired and maintained. From here we boarded our bus and head back to the ship. Along the way we passed the Cricket Stadium. They take their cricket very seriously on Antigua and June is an avid fan. It was a very interesting tour and I learned a lot about Antigua's history and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States that Antigua is a member of. Back on board in time for a quick shower and dinner.

Christmas Dinner in the My Time MDR with a special dinner menu. The normal Pomodoro menu plus an extra section to the right for Christmas. I had the oven roasted turkey. It was served with stuffing and cranberry sauce. Very good.

I realized I haven't showed the Christmas decorations of Indy so here are some photos. And the gingerbread houses in the Windjammer. Early on Christmas morning they offered egg nog outside of Vintages. Santa made an appearance. Our cruise director announced his arrival on deck 12 then a quick parade through the Promenade before heading to Studio B. I was out on the helipad capturing our arrival in St. Maarten and missed Santa.

This is the same pricing on Indy for the Christmas cruise. $15.99 for Surf, $19.99 for Surf 7 stream. The question is... is this just holiday premium pricing or a long term thing? I paid $11.99 per day for Surf and Stream on the Symphony TA last week. Time will tell.

Day 5 - St. Maarten. December 25, 2017. I awoke for no reason and there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the Windjammer I flew like a flash... It's Christmas morning and I woke before my alarm and to no clatter, but I'm glad I woke up early because I wanted to take in our approach to St. Maarten. Showered and shaved I went to the Windjammer for breakfast. Everyone I met was in a good mood. Morning salutations consisted of either 'Merry Christmas' or 'Good Morning, Merry Christmas' . Scrooge must have been a pier runner because he missed the ship. There is a channel on the ship's TV system with a fire in a fireplace set to Christmas music. I know some TV providers do this as well at home, sometimes called the 'Yule Tide Channel'. Breakfast out of the way I went to the helipad to watch our arrive. On the way I caught our pilot approaching the ship. I recognized that row of condos. I've ridden horses near there and recognized them. The flag was new and would be seen again later in the day. Pilot on board we inched closer to St. Maarten. We arrived early and were quickly docked and cleared before our scheduled arrival time. My excursion didn't start for another hour so I had time to kill. So I do what I always do... took a picture. With 45 minutes before the 'meet' time for my excursion I left the ship and headed onto land. I was an early bird with few people off the ship yet so I had an opportunity to... take pictures. I've been here several times and the familiar sign was in place with some friendly folks holding a banner to greet us. I also noted a sign on the Diamonds International building. The sidewalk around the building was being worked on so they had some fences up with temporary walkways into the building, It was a beautiful morning and it's Christmas Day. There were some additional greeters this morning and they were happy to have their picture taken. I wandered back through security to the meeting point on the pier for my excursion. An Island Tour. We boarded a really nice bus and met Nicholas, our bus driver and tour guide. As we drove toward the French side of the island Nicholas provided many facts and interesting information about his life on the island and his experience here. As a result of living on the French side for a while he spent some time in the French Army. He has lived on both the Dutch and French side and has family on both sides. Not long after the port area damage from the hurricane was hard to miss. I honestly feel and believe St. Maarten is ready for cruise ships and everyone was very happy to see us. Locals waved to our bus. But make no mistake the hurricane damage is very easy to see. I am choosing not to focus on it because more than damage I saw a spirit in the people and in everyone I met. They are happy to see us and and eager to see tourists return. They are moving forward. They are recovering. It's very safe here. I visited St. Maarten by cruise in the 90's not long after a hurricane in '95 did similar damage. They rebuilt then and they will rebuild now. The good news is that most cruise ship or tourist excursions are fine. Beaches are great. Sail boats and dive boats are operating. There is quite a bit to do and the pier was lined with several hundred of my fellow guests doing so. That was really great to see and it's the best way to help the locals since they operate the excursions. Nicholas kept us entertained and was an excellent guide. I'm glad I did this tour because I learned a lot about the island I've visited many times. After a 40 minute ride our first stop was in Marigot. It's Christmas Day and local shopping centers were closed but I'm okay with that. I had mixed feeling about coming on Christmas Day. On one hand it would be nice for everyone to stay at home with family but on the other they need money. They need tourists. They did have a flea market set up along the water Since I had ripped my Caribbean shirt when boarding in Port Everglades I took the opportunity to replace it here. I bought two new shirts at two different vendors. I really confused one when I handed her the money plus more in small bills than they were asking. It took a few seconds as she recalculated it in her head but then a big smile came to her face. I'll remember it every time I wear that shirt. Nicholas then took us back to the Dutch side where we stopped at Carousel. It's an ice cream/gelato store with a free Merry Go Round in the back. Walking towards the back of the establishment we had a similar experience we would have many times. Quite normal then you walk a little further and see the effects of the hurricane. This stop complete we continued our tour. Do you remember the flag in the background behind the pilot boat as we first arrived? Here it is up close. From here we went back to the cruise ship port. After dropping off the shopping bags in my cabin I headed back to the water taxi to go to the local beach and shopping district downtown. It was $7 roundtrip but it came with great views. From here I walked up and down the beach area. Much of it looked normal but occasionally I would see a business that was rebuilding. There were dozens of places to get food and a cold beverage. The beach was lined with umbrellas and loungers from various vendors along the entire stretch of it. I stopped for a cold beer here and there, always leaving a good tip. With that I jumped back on the water taxi to return to the ship. Beer was $2 on the water taxi. It was nice and cold. One last look as I sipped a Red Stripe on the ride back. It was an amazing way to spend Christmas Day. Every where I went on land or on the ship every one was in a good mood. The weather was great and I'm really glad we were able to stop here and contribute to the local economy. Every local I met was very appreciative. I never felt unsafe or questioned if a ship should come to St. Maarten. It was a really great day.

It's Christmas Day and I was going to insert photos of the Christmas Tree here but I can't find them right now, so this post is a place holder until I can take more...

Day 4 - San Juan Photo heavy post. Given the hurricane damage to San Juan 100 days before this visit I wanted everyone to see how much the San Juan has recovered. This port was actually yesterday as I write this sitting in St. Maarten but time is getting away from me. Weather was much better than my last visit here on Dec. 5th. Winds were high overnight before arriving as the Captain warned they would be. They re-opened the helipad as we approached San Juan so I took in our arrival from there. El Morro guarding the harbor entrance. Later in the day I would walk along this shore. At a distance it's very normal. A fleet of buses waited for us. Jewel is home ported in San Juan and she was at the other pier across the harbor when we arrived. I pre-booked the "Old and New San Juan" tour. We boarded a bus and made our way towards new San Juan. Our first stop was at a park and beach area. We re-boarded our bus and made our way into Old San Juan with the driver pointing out a number of buildings and providing a history of the area. Once we arrived at El Morro I decided to stay here longer so I gave the driver a $10 tip and told him I would walk back to the ship. I never tire of taking pictures of El Morro. There is a walkway outside of the old city walls that goes along the shore and all the way back towards the ship. In 1630 they decided to expand the city walls. It took 160 years and they completed the wall we see now in 1790. One of the main gates used to access the old city in the 1700's: It's a very pretty walk. I stopped back into the Princesa Gastrobar for a cold beer. I'm glad to see the crowds returning. I started back towards the ship on an indirect route exploring some of the streets of Old San Juan. Lots of tourists milling about was a good sign. Finally back home to Indy. I took a nap, just made dinner and went top side to find darkness. Jewel was beating us out of port to start her cruise. Up on deck I saw some fireworks in the distance on this special Christmas Eve. Soon after we slid out of port and started making our way along the shore near San Juan and points West. I continued to see fireworks along the route. It was a beautiful night and the night sky was full of stars. I didn't have my tripod but tried to capture some of them as best I could given the city lights of San Juan lighting up the night sky. It was another great day in San Juan and I was happy to continue supporting their recovery efforts. With that it's formal night and I need to head back to my cabin to get dressed.

Merry Christmas! In addition to changing time the night before we reached San Juan, we've entered the cruise ship time warp. Time is flying by and I'm behind processing photos. I took a bunch in San Juan yesterday but we've now arrived in St. Maarten and I just took in our arrival from the helipad. Since I've got an early excursion I'll try to return and work on photos later today. When I ran into the couple from BC whose son is a skater they asked me to email them some photos. I sent them nearly 30 shots of not only their son but of the whole skating team. Last night the team held their own little Christmas Eve party. They all loved the photos so much they emailed me back with a thank you video. Time to load up on sun screen while some of you gear up to shovel the driveway ?. Merry Christmas everyone! The Independence of the Seas Ice Skating Team:

15cm? Where I grew up we called that a dusting ?

The discount is relative to on board prices. The final pricing shown per person is calculated assuming both people buy it with the 1st person paying the full ON BOARD rate, the 2nd person paying half of the ON BOARD rate. If solo I've seen that a single cruiser benefits and pays a reduced rate as if a 2nd person was also buying it.

Top tier event last night ~3,600 on board but this seems light. Suspect I got confused as numbers were presented quickly. 1,692 C&A (or something like that) - That means around 2,000 are new to RCI on this sailing. 1,032 Gold. Missed the Platinum and Emerald numbers (the Captain rattled them off very quickly). Just over 300 Diamond/Diamond Plus. 9 Pinnacle. Top cruiser had around 3,400 points and over 275 cruises. Side note - A lot of Canadians on this sailing. The family next to me at the skating show were from Toronto. Based on crowd response when the Cruise Director has asked at shows or at the top tier event I'm guessing over 25% are Canadian on board.

Day 3 Dinner My Time MDR Inslata Mista with the Pork Shoulder. Service continues to be excellent and food very good. I've had the same table all nights despite arriving +/- 15 mins off my reservation time. Actually last night I was 25 mins late and they still had "my" table waiting for me. After dinner I took in the special holiday ice skating show in Studio B. The regular ice show will be available later in the cruise, this was a unique show put the music of several traditional Christmas tunes. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I met a couple from British Columbia at the muster drill. They mentioned their son Cole is an ice skater in the show. As it turns out he is the captain of the skating team. They were front and center watching their son perform along with other family members behind them. They are the couple to the left out of the spot light and I believe that is Cole skating. It was a 35 minute show and very good. This can't be easy on ice, on a moving ship, in heels. I managed to catch water dripping off her skates as she was whisked into the air. When you skate the pressure of the skate blade on the ice creates a thin water barrier between the skate blade and the ice. It's a very thin layer of water along the edge of the blade. In this shot you can see the trail of water leaving her skate as she is lifted off the ice and they begin to spin. A very good show and I look forward to the regular ice show in a few a days. After this the late night adult comedy show in the main theater. Very funny. Tonight was his last performance, he disembarks tomorrow in San Juan.

Earlier today when I was back on the ship the crew were doing a man overboard practice drill. They announced the Oscar Oscar Oscar over the PA and followed that it was a practice drill. An hour or so later a USCG helicopter began flying around the ship. A crew member near me thought there may be a medical evac. She is responsible for filling out paperwork when a guest has to leave under these circumstances so she was paying attention to the surprise arrival of a rescue copter. At Labadee they use the pier for this. They never landed but flew a pattern back and forth before leaving. There was a lifeboat in the water as the crew practiced a simulated response. I'm wondering if they heard radio chatter of the simulation and responded? I'm not sure where they came from, Gitmo maybe? Any ways it was interesting to see a USCG rescue helicopter fly past Labadee. I've been on a ship with a helicopter medical evac. at sea and it's quite impressive.