Traveler

Ahhhh….so this is a controversy similar to those of us who know ONLY Coke…no matter what the actual brand might happen to be.  ….not that any civilized person drinks anything OTHER than Coke, of course….🤭

Royal's pro tip:

 
SweetPea's Pro tip: Don't drink and Zazzle your own Duck Tags after watching the movie The Help:


Oh, you didn't think we were Duckers, did you?
Yeah, good call. We're not.
Let's just say this turned into a series of "It seemed like a good idea at the time." 
I know what i was thinking, partially anyway.  I was 🤔 that I'm going to have a hard time getting Batman to leave the room. Hiding ducks would give us an opportunity to explore the ship.
I've since come to learn the error in that logic.
Because we all know exactly what's going to happen here. 1) i will bring some with me from Point A (our stateroom) to our next destination to hide while trying not to hold up Batman too much or 2) Batman will tell me, "Yeah, you have fun with that. I'll meet you back here when you're done. If you see our guy, get me some more Coors Lite on your way back. Thanks. Love you. Mean it. "
But now I'm committed and we're just going with it ... And by "we," clearly i mean "me" here. 
Obviously, Batman knows about the ducks. 
He's not seen the tags.
I can predict the conversation once he begins packing for us. I'm wondering if i should foretell it now to see how accurate it turns out to be?
Oh i should? 
Fine. 
Undoubtedly, it will start with ... "you're an idiot." (I think that's a given and by now well-established).  Followed by 'the font on the front is too small, but maybe that's a good thing" And finally, "who the hell is SweetPea? You're Batgirl."
Now i feel i have to explain that last part. Batman has always been Batman. I don't know why.  He just is. One cruise about a dozen years ago when we were sailing with Batman's family, Batman's sister announced in a booming voice, "GOOD MORNING, SweetPea!" (For the record, it was about 2pm).  She did this in a quiet but crowded outdoor bar. It was a smaller ship with the same crew grabbing a few drinks at the same bar at the same time every day.  My "Norm!" became "SweetPea!" when i would arrive.  No one knew my given name that cruise. Everywhere i went it was "SweetPea!" The end.
But my point is ... that is NOT what Batman calls me. 
Also, for the record, i do not eat Pork Roll, and I'm not sure what i was thinking with that helpful piece of advice, but those stupid tags were like $70 & I'm not changing them now. (i can almost hear @OCSC Mike's eyes rolling .... 😆)
 

Loving your blog. The salmon sandwich looks yummy 

We started our journey on Tuesday evening saying good bye and took train to the airport.

12 hour later  we landed  in Newark for a challenging 1.5 hour connection,  immigration went very fast although there were some lines but one of the suitcases took it time to arrive which push us to the not do comfortable zone. Lucky for us there were zero lines at security and our flight to Seattle was from the same terminal. We arrived the gate just when they started to board . Flight to Seattle took another 5 hours but it went smooth. When we landed the luggage came very quick and we walked to the train. The train  departures every 10 minutes and has enough space for luggage.  It cost 3 $ per person. It took us 6 more minutes to walk to the hotel , although it was uphill. Around 12 PM we arrived to the hotel to find that our room already ready which was nice.


We quickly got refreshed and went to catch something to eat in Pike market which is 10 minutes from the hotel. We went to the market grill , I got the Salmon sandwich which was very good.

We checked some other places in the market before going to the nearby Target to stock up.

We went back yo the hotel and decided to take some rest which we all know  with the Jetlag meaning sleep until the middle if the night 🙂
 

We started our journey on Tuesday evening saying good bye and took train to the airport.

12 hour later  we landed  in Newark for a challenging 1.5 hour connection,  immigration went very fast although there were some lines but one of the suitcases took it time to arrive which push us to the not do comfortable zone. Lucky for us there were zero lines at security and our flight to Seattle was from the same terminal. We arrived the gate just when they started to board . Flight to Seattle took another 5 hours but it went smooth. When we landed the luggage came very quick and we walked to the train. The train  departures every 10 minutes and has enough space for luggage.  It cost 3 $ per person. It took us 6 more minutes to walk to the hotel , although it was uphill. Around 12 PM we arrived to the hotel to find that our room already ready which was nice.


We quickly got refreshed and went to catch something to eat in Pike market which is 10 minutes from the hotel. We went to the market grill , I got the Salmon sandwich which was very good.

We checked some other places in the market before going to the nearby Target to stock up.

We went back yo the hotel and decided to take some rest which we all know  with the Jetlag meaning sleep until the middle if the night 🙂
 

We started our journey on Tuesday evening saying good bye and took train to the airport.

12 hour later  we landed  in Newark for a challenging 1.5 hour connection,  immigration went very fast although there were some lines but one of the suitcases took it time to arrive which push us to the not do comfortable zone. Lucky for us there were zero lines at security and our flight to Seattle was from the same terminal. We arrived the gate just when they started to board . Flight to Seattle took another 5 hours but it went smooth. When we landed the luggage came very quick and we walked to the train. The train  departures every 10 minutes and has enough space for luggage.  It cost 3 $ per person. It took us 6 more minutes to walk to the hotel , although it was uphill. Around 12 PM we arrived to the hotel to find that our room already ready which was nice.


We quickly got refreshed and went to catch something to eat in Pike market which is 10 minutes from the hotel. We went to the market grill , I got the Salmon sandwich which was very good.

We checked some other places in the market before going to the nearby Target to stock up.

We went back yo the hotel and decided to take some rest which we all know  with the Jetlag meaning sleep until the middle if the night 🙂
 

We started our journey on Tuesday evening saying good bye and took train to the airport.

12 hour later  we landed  in Newark for a challenging 1.5 hour connection,  immigration went very fast although there were some lines but one of the suitcases took it time to arrive which push us to the not do comfortable zone. Lucky for us there were zero lines at security and our flight to Seattle was from the same terminal. We arrived the gate just when they started to board . Flight to Seattle took another 5 hours but it went smooth. When we landed the luggage came very quick and we walked to the train. The train  departures every 10 minutes and has enough space for luggage.  It cost 3 $ per person. It took us 6 more minutes to walk to the hotel , although it was uphill. Around 12 PM we arrived to the hotel to find that our room already ready which was nice.


We quickly got refreshed and went to catch something to eat in Pike market which is 10 minutes from the hotel. We went to the market grill , I got the Salmon sandwich which was very good.

We checked some other places in the market before going to the nearby Target to stock up.

We went back yo the hotel and decided to take some rest which we all know  with the Jetlag meaning sleep until the middle if the night 🙂
 

We started our journey on Tuesday evening saying good bye and took train to the airport.

12 hour later  we landed  in Newark for a challenging 1.5 hour connection,  immigration went very fast although there were some lines but one of the suitcases took it time to arrive which push us to the not do comfortable zone. Lucky for us there were zero lines at security and our flight to Seattle was from the same terminal. We arrived the gate just when they started to board . Flight to Seattle took another 5 hours but it went smooth. When we landed the luggage came very quick and we walked to the train. The train  departures every 10 minutes and has enough space for luggage.  It cost 3 $ per person. It took us 6 more minutes to walk to the hotel , although it was uphill. Around 12 PM we arrived to the hotel to find that our room already ready which was nice.


We quickly got refreshed and went to catch something to eat in Pike market which is 10 minutes from the hotel. We went to the market grill , I got the Salmon sandwich which was very good.

We checked some other places in the market before going to the nearby Target to stock up.

We went back yo the hotel and decided to take some rest which we all know  with the Jetlag meaning sleep until the middle if the night 🙂
 

Be prepare - my brother just got off a RC cruise last week to Alaska.  He had 2 of his land tours canceled - one due to weather and one due to a medical emergency on board.  I hope your cruise is able to hit all the ports with great weather. 

Several years ago, before we even started to cruise I had few business trips to Seattle. The office of the company I worked for used to be just adjust to the Pike market and I always got a nice office with panoramic view of the bay. Every Friday I used to watch the ships leaving the port going to Alaska while I had to stay and sometimes had to come to office during the weekend. I  said to myself one day it will be me over there, well, this day arrived. 
We went to many cruises during the last 10 years , many at Europe , Caribbean and some in Asia but Alaska was I guess just too far but always in the list. 
The plan, land in Seattle two days before the cruise, stay in downtown Seattle and board the ship on Friday. We will visit Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Victoria. 
More to come.

Several years ago, before we even started to cruise I had few business trips to Seattle. The office of the company I worked for used to be just adjust to the Pike market and I always got a nice office with panoramic view of the bay. Every Friday I used to watch the ships leaving the port going to Alaska while I had to stay and sometimes had to come to office during the weekend. I  said to myself one day it will be me over there, well, this day arrived. 
We went to many cruises during the last 10 years , many at Europe , Caribbean and some in Asia but Alaska was I guess just too far but always in the list. 
The plan, land in Seattle two days before the cruise, stay in downtown Seattle and board the ship on Friday. We will visit Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Victoria. 
More to come.

Several years ago, before we even started to cruise I had few business trips to Seattle. The office of the company I worked for used to be just adjust to the Pike market and I always got a nice office with panoramic view of the bay. Every Friday I used to watch the ships leaving the port going to Alaska while I had to stay and sometimes had to come to office during the weekend. I  said to myself one day it will be me over there, well, this day arrived. 
We went to many cruises during the last 10 years , many at Europe , Caribbean and some in Asia but Alaska was I guess just too far but always in the list. 
The plan, land in Seattle two days before the cruise, stay in downtown Seattle and board the ship on Friday. We will visit Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Victoria. 
More to come.

Have a safe journey.

Bon voyage! Safe travels!

Is our White Whale of Moby Dick proportions? IDK .. are you counting our financial well-being? Who cares! YOLO!!   Who: SweetPea and Batman, two crazy mutual enablers who found ❤️ about 23 (24, 25?) years ago. Married for most of those. Don't ask me our anniversary. I once proudly told Batman my new ATM PIN, proclaiming, "Get it?!  It's our anniversary backwards!"   Spoiler: it wasn't.    I've not heard the end of it since.    What: Our White Whale. Why, you ask? We had 3,462.7 cruises in the Owner's Panoramic canceled during the Covid. Seriously. By March 578th, 2020, I'd had enough, just like the rest of the world. This was bound to happen sooner or later. I made sure of it.    When: September 24-October 1, 2023. Too short and will be over too quick, but the ship is our destination so who cares?! (Our itinerary is mundane and boring. We'll only be getting off the ship for PDCC.)   Where: Oasis of the Seas (C'mon now. There are only 2 OPs in the entire fleet, so there's a very good chance you'd win that coin toss.)   Why: Why not?!! Besides, flying sucks and we can drive to the port! And by drive, i mean be driven. Because who drives on vacation? Is that even a thing?!   How: Selling one pickled middle-aged kidney on the dark web. Let's face it, there's a difference between a kidney from a 20-year old athlete and one from a 50-something whose kidney is going to be (a-hem) grape-flavored. Clearly what I'm trying to say is that you could probably book two Star Class rooms with the 20-year-old kidney. Our cost wasn't *that* bad, but should still leave you questioning whether you'd consider us sound financial advisors.    Crown&Anchor Level: Brown.    I briefly considered making a parody pin that said "Not Pinnacle" with the "not" in very, very small font. I think it'd have been an excellent conversation starter.    Pre-cruise Diet: Poor. I planned to lose 30 pounds. I only have 33 to go. Forget that noise.   So here we go on our 3.5-year-in-the-making adventure. If you know us, I'm taking a very liberal definition of the term "adventure" here. As in, you shouldn't expect FlowRider reviews from us. That would only happen if they privacy-tented the entire wave pool and literally no one else could see us. I've seen this new TikTok thing all the cool kids are talking about, and going viral for all the wrong reasons would send me into a Brendan Fraser Whale-spin without the need of a fat suit.    (Perhaps i should tell you about the time i managed to ATV my way into the middle of a sugar cane field in St. Kitts where the excursion leader pulled me aside and quietly asked if I'd consider a private lesson before allowing the group to continue. That was 20 years and 30 pounds ago and my grace and agility has not aged like the fine wine I enjoy so much. --- That was for the kids in the back who didn't get my grape- flavored kidney joke earlier.)   This is our first cruise post-shutdown. We wanted to feel like we were going on vacation, not checking in for a clinical procedure. So we sat out all mandates. We both found them too stressful and opted to wait until the craziness was well on its way to over before we even remotely considered cruising again. This is one of the reasons we're going to the poorhouse post-cruise. I booked this pretty late and didn't partake in opening day prices. However, i got worried this was Oasis's last season in NJ so i bit the bullet and made several payments Batman wouldn't notice so our final bill was more in line with what I thought he could stomach. I can't be the only benevolently devious spouse to do so. If you've done something like this yourself, blink twice.   (And, Mindy, if you're reading: You're a SAINT!)   For the record, i caught Batman in a good mood one night and asked him the max he'd pay for a week-long cruise in Star Class. Unsurprisingly, it was a *bit* less than the cost of this one. So this is just between us RC Blog family, right? Good thing he thinks this website is Royal.blog.Carribean.me.live.com/reports which he always forgets to find later ....    And to any dudes reading, please remember: there is no such idiom as "Bros before blogs." That does not and will never exist.... if i can help it.    So, as long as Batman never does find this blog ... Continue to follow along to learn the riveting answers to such burning questions as: how will Anthem Star Class compare to Oasis Star Class? Will we prefer O Class to Q Class in general? Is this Deck 17 we keep reading about an actual Nirvana? What else has the pandemic stolen from us in pre v post shutdown changes? Will we ever want to return to Norwegian Haven? And ultimately, will selling a functioning kidney be worth the experience?   Come with us! We'll find out together!

Several years ago, before we even started to cruise I had few business trips to Seattle. The office of the company I worked for used to be just adjust to the Pike market and I always got a nice office with panoramic view of the bay. Every Friday I used to watch the ships leaving the port going to Alaska while I had to stay and sometimes had to come to office during the weekend. I  said to myself one day it will be me over there, well, this day arrived. 
We went to many cruises during the last 10 years , many at Europe , Caribbean and some in Asia but Alaska was I guess just too far but always in the list. 
The plan, land in Seattle two days before the cruise, stay in downtown Seattle and board the ship on Friday. We will visit Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Victoria. 
More to come.

Several years ago, before we even started to cruise I had few business trips to Seattle. The office of the company I worked for used to be just adjust to the Pike market and I always got a nice office with panoramic view of the bay. Every Friday I used to watch the ships leaving the port going to Alaska while I had to stay and sometimes had to come to office during the weekend. I  said to myself one day it will be me over there, well, this day arrived. 
We went to many cruises during the last 10 years , many at Europe , Caribbean and some in Asia but Alaska was I guess just too far but always in the list. 
The plan, land in Seattle two days before the cruise, stay in downtown Seattle and board the ship on Friday. We will visit Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Victoria. 
More to come.

So , they traveled without passports and without insurance ? 
Even if they left the passport on the ship once they did not arrive the passport will be with the ship agent in Mexico .  
Anyway hope everything will work for them soon and they will be back home with good health.

Or don't travel without health insurance and a passport if you want to cover highly unlikely, albeit tragic, events.
Wishing this couple the best possible outcome!

@WAAAYTOOO Coincidentally enough I was on Grandeur when they were allowing D to do the BOGO. Thats why I said YMMV. I asked about it and several people said they were able to partake on Radiance and Vision class. But we both know that Royal is really inconsistent 🤣. 

I’ve never known BOGO to be offered to D but there’s lots of things I don’t know !  😂. To my knowledge, it is just available to D+ and Pinnacle.
Our recent experience with BOGO has been mixed.  On Wonder we were required to use both of our BOGO on nights 1 and 2.  On Grandeur, we were allowed to pay for our meals on night #2 and then eat our “free” meal later in the cruise.  The second scenario is much better IMO.
When you get on the ship and go to the kiosk or restaurant to make you specialty dining reservations, tell them that you want to book a specialty restaurant on day 1 or 2 (whichever is your preference) and that you will both be paying FULL price on that first night.  Then, make another reservation later in the week and for that one, you should get a -0- balance bill. Where it can get confusing is if you pay (on night #1) for a cheaper restaurant and then go to a more expensive one on the second night, they may or may not charge you for the more expensive restaurant and refund you the money for your earlier, less expensive choice.  For this reason, we always choose Chops as our “pay” restaurant so that the second night will never be more expensive than the first, was.  There are also some who pre-purchase a reduced price meal prior to boarding and try and use that as their “paid” meal.  This is slightly scammy IMO so we never do this but I have read of those that try it.  Some get away with it, I guess…
In general, Chops+1 will run you about $90 PP (plus grats) depending upon the ship and sail date and full onboard price for a Chops dinner is approximately $65 PP (plus grats) so it will always be cheaper to do BOGO than Chops+1…at least as far as I have experienced.
 

The survey asking if we will pay money for Sorentos made me think why to stop there. Here some more creative ideas for RCL:
Weight the plates in the WJ and pay by the pound. 
Want Emuster ? Pay extra otherwise you are back to the regular crowded muster.
All cabin doors to be removed , want privacy ? It's extra, diamonds will get free transparent shower  curtains,  D+ will get free transparent door and pineapples will get a real door but without a latch.
Quest challenge lidt can be purchased the day before , same for Love and Marriage. 
Tender boat tickets will cost money,  people will be able to swim to port for free. 
For dinner time you can choose between 5 to 5:15 PM , want another slot ? It's extra.
Extra charge the comedy show if you don't want to be the star of the show.
Jacuzzi will be coin operated,  the good news, you can use your key to charge it to you room.
The flowrider will still be free you just need to pay if you want it filed with water.
At the end of the cruise at the exit you will need to be weight , every extra pound you gain during the cruise will be charged. 
Charge 4500$ for a 7 hour use of the over the water cabanas , oh wait ...
 

I avoid all the sales on the Promenade, and talked about why in my latest video
 

Just take some $1 or exchange them.
This was my 7th RC cruise and for most I've had the DDP. I know grats are already added but I decided after reading facebook and blogs like RCBlog to tip a few bucks when getting drinks.
This was helped by winning $20 with my free slot rolls 🙂 
I have to say while you don't need to tip it really made a difference. 
I get beer mostly so it didn't impact the alcohol level but the friendliness of the staff (they were always friendly before but the level of friendliness increased) and the speed at getting served was improved.
Perhaps not noticeable if you haven't tipped before but I definitely noticed it when the pool bars got busy.
I will definitely be tipping bar staff in the future. 🙂 
 
 
 

If it is a cruise that goes only to EU ports everything as the EU VAT including drinks and purchases in the ship "Duty-free" . If you are not from the EU and purchases something above 70 Euro you can get the VAT back by filling  a form bit it's not the case with food and drinks.