Traveler

We just completed an 8-day cruise on the Odyssey and we had 4 sea days.  As you can imagine, the chair hogs were out in full force but Odyssey’s staff were ready.  Each pool area had at least two attendants that worked all day long…They were tagging all unoccupied chairs and removing the items if the person didn’t return in time.  They were using little yellow stickies to mark the time they placed the tag, the number of chairs and they placed the tag on the chair in a location the person would not notice.  The staff got lots of thanks and I only witness one upset lady…She came back three hours later and was upset her stuff was removed.  Way to go Royal!!!

Confirmation email came through this evening - I've been upgraded from a guarantee balcony to a spacious balcony! Very excited to win, and I love the location of this room too. It's a bit more forward than I might have chosen to be, but I will take it because it is quieter, near the stairs/elevator, and bigger!

The only thing they changed in the last 3 years is the wine , now most of it is white beside one red that comes with the filet mignon. 

The only thing they changed in the last 3 years is the wine , now most of it is white beside one red that comes with the filet mignon. 

BTW - here is the menu. My understanding is there are two additional appetizers and one additional dessert not on the menu 
 

This pair stuck close to each other. 

Earlier today Andrew presented an enrichment talk about Humpback whales.  He mentioned that often when you see a pair of whales with one larger than the other staying close to each other it may be a mother with a calf.  











I'm not certain that is the case with these two but it makes for a nice story so I'm going with it.

By the time we finished getting settled, it was 5pm. At first the kids wanted to take a walk along A1A, but by 5pm everyone was hungry so off to La Bamba we went! 

I cannot explain how happy I am to go back to La Bamba. We have searched all over for restaurants that are similar to this and not one compares. We just love this place! 

By the time we finished, we realized that we were exhausted. Made a quick Publix run for some yogurt, muffins, and fruit, and back at the hotel to call it a night. 

I hope “The Book” is not like “The Gift” lol
Hubby and I are doing this backwards. We saw Effectors 2 on Wonder, and now will see the original Effectors on OY. Kids will see the original first as we have yet to take them on WN. 
I really disliked the Esplanade on Anthem. So if OY is similar, I probably won’t be a fan either. The flow is not good, and they put out all the display tables and there’s just too much congestion. 

We were on the ship just long enough to contemplate life and consider this next challenge.
The Polar Plunge.
They gathered victims, I mean participants by deck number.

Too late to back out now.




I survived!

Back in my suite I was able to watch some other participants enjoying the plunge.

After a few minutes it was time to descend the slip and slide but if penguins can do it...




Back to the ship!

Happy New Year everyone !!  I am in full recovery mode.  It's been a REALLY long time since I got "big" for NY eve but I did it right last night....I guess.  Don't recall much except that I somehow found my way back to our room, had $700 in cash (I don't have any recollection of winning...but I guess I did) and fell into bed with all of my jewelry on LOL.  Dan had his first hand pay last night on video poker so we both came home with money.  It is a bit of a NYE miracle.
In all of the NYE hooplah, I managed to lose my Pinnacle plank.  I found the magnet this morning but the plank was nowhere to be found.  I guess I must have slept with it on, as the stateroom attendant found it and left it on the bed.  UGH.  Very grateful that it has been recovered.  I am feeling pretty rough today.  I do recall spilling champagne all over the Ultimate table.  I'm sure I will be on the Casino's naughty list for next Christmas.

Finally a winning session in the casino !  I’ve been a big fat loser all week….finally walked away with a little coin tonite !
….and speaking of the casino, I have never EVER seen a deader casino than on AD this week.  I’m sure it’s b/c this is a family cruise but MAN…deadsville.

I see redcoats!

 

 

 

 

Live from Antarctica aboard the Silver Wind.

As we began our departure from St Andrews Bay I was given a view towards the sea from my suite.  You can't see it very well in the photo but the horizon is littered with icebergs.

I'm so glad I upgraded to a balcony suite for this sailing.  Not a bad place to post this thread from.





We had an escort out of St Andrews Bay.

More Kings.

Our progression.

 

This has been our day cruising up the coast of South Georgia Island.  Destination unknown.

Bertrab Glacier maybe?

Some of the more interesting icebergs.




Northern part of the Ross Glacier I think.






This went zooming past pretty close.



Our friend the Albatross bringing us good weather.


Antarctic Prion.


Weather has been variable.  It's sunny then it's not.  Clear then misty.  Where did that Albatross go?

Of course fur seals and elephant seals abound as well.

All of these animals coexist peacefully.


More pups!  Our zodiac driver tells us they are now much larger since his last visit a few weeks ago.









Seal condominium.

Have a great cruise and Merry Christmas.

Since that video upload went okay here is a zodiac ride from New Island back to the Silver Wind.  I sped up the video to make it shorter but that makes it look a lot more bumpy than it was.  
I normally like to add music and such but YT has gotten so hard to work with music I've just uploaded it with natural sound.  

TL;DR - All is well.  Christmas is coming.  The BOGO process is a Charlie Foxtrot.
 
I promised a live blog for this sailing but in keeping with my utter unreliability for doing live blogs, I have failed again....this being day 3 already.
I will skip all of the pre-boarding and boarding details as these are not of particular interest to anyone and it was entirely uneventful.  All went well. We are here.
The ship is in great shape for her age.  We sailed on Adventure relatively recently so there haven't been any changes since that time.  Sure, she needs paint in some areas and there are patches of carpeting that are in need of replacing but these are purely superficial issues and have not impacted our enjoyment at all.
We are in a Panoramic Ocean View Suite (VP), a room which was converted at the time that part of the spa was removed.  The room has an ENORMOUS panoramic view with ceiling-to-floor window panes.  It makes for a really lovely view....particularly at sunrise and sunset.  LOTS of space.  There is a large-ish closet area that they advertise as a second bedroom but that's not fair.  It's just a couple of bunk beds in a closet with a curtain.  Yes, it provides additional beds. No, it is not a second bedroom.  There is a bath-and-a-half (full bath and second toilet and sink) but the full bath is somewhat disappointing as it is the same size and layout of a typical stateroom bathroom with a space tube shower (ugh).  Nothing special there.  It is considered a full suite so we have access to the Suites Lounge and all of the suites' amenities.  Breakfast is in Giovanni's on this ship (it's typically in Chops) b/c Chops is on Deck 4, forward and Gios is the only specialty restaurant on deck 11....and it is in an unusual place (instead of being located inside the Windjammer entrance as it is on most VY and FR class ships, the entrance is outside of the WJ).  The food and service have been very good.
It's a good thing that the VP is considered a full suite b/c we would otherwise be denied access to the Suites' Lounge on this sailing.  There are 65 Pinns onboard this sailing (and I'm sure we are #'s 64 and 65 in seniority !).  Only the top 30 are permitted in the Suites' Lounge and we certainly are not among those 30...but since we are in a full suite, we are allowed in.  As may be expected, the SL is an empty wilderness and the Crown Lounge (CL) (or Clown Lounge as some are calling it) is a whirlwind of chaos.  Since the only [public] computers that I am aware of are located in the back of the CL (there are 2), that is where you will find me in the AM.  At least there is SOMEwhere to get on a keyboard !
As one would predict, there are many families and children on this sailing but I have not found it to be a concern.  Everyone is having a wonderful time and the children are all looking forward to Santa's arrival.  
There was a show in the theater last night called "Can't Stop the Rock" which we fully intended to attend but failed (we decided that the hot tub would be a better thing to do)....but I heard it was tolerable.  We went to the ice show on our last AD sailing so we will probably skip it this time but as I recall, it was very typical of all the ice shows and definitely worth going to if you haven't been before.
We have not stepped foot inside the WJ and intend to keep it that way.  Our one night of dining in the MDR (so far) was fine.  Welcome Aboard is one of my least favorite MDR menus and that happened to be the night that we decided to eat there (having eaten lunch in Chops on boarding day....didn't think 2 big meals in one day would be a good idea).  We will also eat in the MDR on Christmas evening and one more time during the last part of the sailing...which night, escapes me at the moment.  We have a 3 night dining package plus 2, BOGO which works soooo well for us.  Speaking of BOGO I thought I would relay the mechanics of using the BOGO on AD...or at least, on THIS sailing on AD as it never seems to be the same process, even on the same ship !  We ate at Giovanni's last night (night #2) and told the server that this represented the use of the first of our BOGO dinners and that we would be eating in Chops later in the week.  Knowing that it is MANDATORY that you pay for your BOGO meals on nights #1 or #2, we requested that the server go ahead and charge us both, full price for our Gio's meal.  That utterly confused her....so she called the manager over.  The manager finally decided that the thing to do was to call Chops, have them charge us for our [yet-to-be-consumed] Chops BOGO and then when we get to Chops later this week, we will already have pre-paid.  PERFECT !  Exactly what we wanted.  We paid for our Gio's BOGO and went home full and happy.  Later that evening we checked our onboard account.  Gio's was charged...but no Chops.  UGH.  So this morning when enjoying our breakfast in Gio's we queried the manager...what happened to our charge for Chops ?  Blank stare.  So she got on the phone with someone...the final determination is that they will charge us for the second BOGO when we get to Chops in a few days.  WHAAAAT ?  I thought the charge had to be completed NLT day 1 or 2 ?  It's an utter mystery and it's yet-to-be-seen whether or not this process will actually work but if I get to Chops and have some bill-issue, I will turn full Karen and somebody's going to be sorry.  LOL  I will report back.
This is already waaaytooo long.  That's what I get for waiting 3 days.  I will catch up later.
Merry Christmas to all !  Santa comes tonite !!!!

The moon of the summer solstice.

With a guest appearance from Jupiter - the small dot on the right.

Antarctica has long been a continent that has intrigued me and what better way to get there than on a cruise?  So it is that I find myself about to board the Silver Wind for 18 nights. 
Departing from Puerto Williams in the South of Chile, Silversea has gathered us in Santiago, Chile as our commercial airport of arrival and departure.  From here Silversea has chartered private aircraft to fly us to Puerto Williams to board the ship.  This is considered an "Expedition" Silversea cruise so a little different than their "Classic" offering.  
Encompassing both Christmas and New Years, the itinerary:

 

I received an email a day or so ago to advertise a new partnership between Royal Caribbean and Brightline rails.  This email highlights an interesting option for getting from South Florida to Port Canaveral (and vise versa) that includes transport from the train station to Port Canaveral.  I knew of the rail option, of course, but always wondered how I would get from the train station (Orlando) to the port.  Apparently Royal/Brightline has solved that problem !  This is not an option I can use at the moment since we do not yet have a Brightline station near my home but I think it was recently announced that a Brightline station will be added at Ft Pierce, which would be close enough to Port St Lucie to make it doable for us, eventually.  At any rate, for those who could take advantage of this new option, here is what I received via email.
 
Ride Brightline
And save 15% with code
ROYAL15
Royal Caribbean® has partnered with Brightline to make your boarding experience in Port Canaveral as seamless and stress-free as possible. Brightline is the only provider of modern, eco-friendly, intercity rail in America and right now you can save 15% on SMART fares when you use the code ROYAL15 at checkout.
Select from 16 daily round trips with hourly departures between Miami and Orlando, with quick stops at West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale and Aventura. Start your vacay right and book your Brightline tickets now.
BOOK NOW   We'll shuttle you to the ship
Port Canaveral is approximately 45 minutes away from the Orlando Brightline station. Make this transfer a breeze by booking a shuttle directly with Royal Caribbean. Call us at 866-562-7625 to book today.
 

During the last few months there were many questions and new post around the casino “free cruises” system , how it is working and how to use it.
Here is the information I gathered and the way I understand it , feel free to add to it /correct me.
Club Royale which is the name of the Royal Caribbean casino loyalty plan offers three  different kind of free cruise offers/certificates:
Annual cruise – Any one that is qualify to one of the three tree upper loyalty  tiers are entitled for Annual cruise:
Prime (2500 to 24999 points) – Inside cabin.
Signature -(25000 – 99999 points) – Balcony.
Master – (100000+ points) – Grand suite.
The Annual cruise can be booked from mid-April to end of March on the next casino year you got qualified for the tier. For example, if you got to be Prefer at December 2022 you will be entitle for the free cruise from April 2023 to March 2024.
The current offer is good for any 7 nights (or less) cruise with some blackout dates (like holidays) and not available on the newest ships (like Icon).
Instance certificate- During a  cruise you can get two kind of certificates :
1 – instance certificate for people that cruised in the past and played in the casino , this certificate might be in your cabin at the first day of the current cruise and based on your pervious cruise level of playing in the casino. Many time people are not getting it and there is not any clear rule who gets it and who not.
2 – instance certificate at the end of the cruise which you will get based on your play at the current cruise and the points you accumulate. It can start from low as 1500 points up to 25000 points for a  Grand suite and 2000 free play. The number of points that are required for getting discounts/free cruise can change from cruise to cruise so its better to verify it while you are on the cruise(you will have the information in the Casino host desk).
On the night before the last night of the cruise or during the last day ,your casino host will send your room the certificate. If you continued to gamble during the last day you can ask the host later to re print you a new certificate incase you past some point threshold (for example you got certificate for 4000 points and you now have 5000) .
Free play – The  current on board  certificates also can includes some free play for the cruise you will book with this offer , to be entitle to get it you must book the cruise using next cruise option. To make it simple, if you think you are entitled for a free cruise and a free play you can go to the next cruise location and  book your specific cruise from the offer list  or book a wildcard next cruise (which is good for booking any cruise) and use it later to book the cruise you choose  .Such booking  need to be done no later then 30 days after your cruise (please note it used to be 7 days so  better to check it every time). If you failed to book it in 30 days , you can still use the next cruise open booking  to book a cruise up to one year but you will not get the free play.
To get the list of cruises you can choose from or ask of the host can  print it or (And much better) wait a day or 2 and check for the offer in the club royal offers site - clubroyaleoffers.com enter your last  name and C&A number to check for the offer name number , it will show you all the different itinerary you can choose from.
Mail/club royale ite offers -  From time to time Club Royal can send offers using snail mail , emails or just load it to the club offers site (clubroyaleoffers.com).  
The Logic / algorithm behind the system of who gets the offers is really not clear , mainly I  guess its 10%  based on player activity, 5 % last cruise points accumulation , 5%  reviewing customer current booked cruises and 80% using voodoo .
The number of offers and number of cabins available  is based on current not sells cabins status and inventory , the speculation is that RCL using this kind of offers to fill up empty cabins. In other words , successful  selling efforts = less comped casino offers.
There are few things that might impact receiving offers such as wrong email (the usual excuse), two accounts which are  using the same email (for example if you opened account for a family member and use your email), already heaving many offers booked and not being a  us resident).
 
 
Q&A (as per my understanding the program):
·         What do I need to pay ? – IF it is fully comped cruise you will need to pay only port fees and taxes.
·         Can I add people to the free cabin offer ? – Yes , usually offers are for two (although lately they came up with single person offer) you can add more people to the cabin but it will be most likely with full price.
·         Can I use the offer to use on a cruise which is not in the list ? – Some of the offers/certificate comes with dollar values, with this kind of offers/certificates you can ask to use the dollar value for another cruise (but usually without many discounts so not all the time it will be cheaper than just book a regular cruise).
·         Can I give the certificate to someone else ? – No the certificate is not transferable.
·         Can I upgrade an offer/certificate – Yes you can try to upgrade , most of the time the upgrade will cost  the casino rate differences between the upgraded cabin and the cabin in the offer, sometimes the price might surprise you (for both directions).
·         Can my travel agent book the offer for me – Yes , but take into consideration , as far as I understand that most likely the commission the TA is getting for such booking is much less
·         Do I get C&A points for a casino comp cruise? – Yes, you are getting full C&A points including double points for being in suite.
·         Can I combined offers for a better offer – Yes, sometime , depends who you are asking  but only if the offer is of the same kind (like two annual offers) . Its always good to try.
·         How I am getting the free play ? – During the first day of the cruise when the Casino is open go to the casino cashier and ask to use the free points , they will load it to your account.
·         Are free casino cruise entitle for royal up offers ?  - Yes most of the time you will get the Royal Up offer.
 
 
As always , play for fun not for the offers 🙂

It's less a new perk than it is rejiggering the existing perk