VACruiser

Normies can't understand this kind purchase . You have to be the kind of rich where 100k is like spending 100 dollars for us normies. It'll never make sense to people that have to pick and choose what excursions or what room to buy on the cruise due to limitations in money.

I have been on both lines equally and I can say that I really enjoyed my January 2024 cruise on the Carnival Celebration. It is a huge step up from the normal Carnival ships and I can say that I will cruise it again and in fact I will next year and then Symphony of the Seas the next year. The food was not bad at all in the MDR - hit or miss on some items but I could always go away filled on something. There are plenty of specialty restaurants on the new ships too if that's your thing. I think that the new ships, Celebration, Mardi Gras and Jubilee are all competitive with Royal, Norwegian and others. If Carnival took their ships to more islands instead of the same ones over and over, I'd go more often. I also will be interested when they open Celebration Key in 2025. I wonder if it will be like PDCC?

I did that ride January 24 to Megan's Bay on an open air taxi. Just be prepared with all the correct money for the ride and also the entrance to Megan's Bay. The bus was $8 per person over the hill to the beach and then the entrance to the beach was $7 per person - they like exact numbers if you can. The ride back over the hill was an adventure. The brakes were smoking and smelled like it on the way down. When we get down to the bottom the driver asked who wanted off at the shopping district and no one replied so he got angry and asked for money from everyone before he would take us back to the ship . It seemed odd but we all payed up and he took us back to the port area.

or is it the new normal

I just stayed in the Hampton Inn in the Brickel district in January 24. It is in a nice area with lots of restaurants, CVS, and grocery stores nearby. They also have a decent breakfast in the morning. And, they have a shuttle to the cruise port for $8 per person. The only drawback is that the street noise can be on the loud side. My last trip there were a lot of cars revving their engines in streets and it reverberates between the buildings. Not a big deal but just a distraction.

The scary thing is may be these are the best prices and they will go up from here.

These prices are insane...looked at an 8 day out of Fort Lauderdale on Oasis of the Seas to Aruba, Curacao, and Coco Cay in a Grand Suite and the price is $13,992 without insurance and $15,270 with insurance. A Crown Loft is just barely under $17,000 and with insurance $18,630. I checked out a balcony with all the goodies, pre-pay gratuities, refundable deposit, and insurance $5693. As the Brits say - I am gobsmacked!!!

I'm wondering why @Ampurp85 is awake and but now I understand. I would have a hard time sleeping on the train too. I can't even sleep much at home so add a train, not happening. As far as the 23 hour train ride - even I knew that from your writings so he has zero excuse.

I only come here waiting to see what the vintages will do next. But, on the other hand, I'm actually a vintage too based upon these age groups mentioned so I hope that I'm not pulling their level of shenanigans on a cruise or preparation for cruise. Whenever I see a blog for a @Ampurp85 cruise I know it's going to be entertaining and we haven't even gotten to what will happen on the ship part. More to follow I'm sure...

13 pages and counting...is there a record for the number of pages for a Live Blog?

@asquared17As a man reading this blog, I have quizzical look on my face - what the heck is "kitten heel?" By the way, I enjoy your writing style and have enjoyed your methods for telling the story.

Kareem, welcome to the Royal Caribbean Blog. Nice to have you here. Now, let's talk about your attitude...

@Ampurp85 I'm still waiting for pictures of the two busty Latina's. I jest, I jest...OK maybe not, but I always enjoy your cruises and blogs. You are always entertaining with a tell-all writing style. My first thoughts when I see your blog starting is what will she get into this cruise and what will she see and write. May be you should you should start writing a book on all your funny anecdotes of cruising. Call it Single and Cruising with a Nice Face.

could be but I'm still intrigued by the whole situation as a Poly couple. Maybe I'm too old to understand all of this activity...I go bed too early on cruises.

@Ampurp85 "Oooooh scandal already. This couple booked a cruise, and the husband invited the other "poly" part and the wife didn't know. She sat in the casino chain smoking worrying about her looks. I tried to tell her good things but to be honest I saw the other two women and.......I would have felt uncomfortable and unattractive." Wait wait wait - I can't get past this that quickly. I was reading along with your blog and having a fun time and then what, wait, what did she say - are you telling me that a married guy, or just an adventurous soul, brought two other women on a cruise with him and his wife? I can't imagine how that would turn out? And, we need pictures of all three of them...haha...not really but...what in the world. Hey honey, I'm taking you on a wonderful vacation and I'm bringing two other women with us - all I'd hear is a smack from whatever is in her hands at the moment. I bet I can go on 5 cruises a year and never get this level of dirt.

I saw that interview too. He never answered the burning question that every one wants to know - how did you "fall off" the ship. From the uninitiated they would never question that interview; but for people who have been on cruise ships, they know how hard it would be to go into the water without purposely jumping. I'd have to think that he jumped and doesn't want to admit that to his family. I also wonder how the ships cameras didn't catch his going overboard.

@Adriana come on Adriana, you know you 're coming here to get the drama..we all are. We should call this the Tales of Royal Caribbean. @Ampurp85could be collecting details for a tell all book that she is secretly writing - I can't wait for it to come out It could be a mystery novel, murder mystery, or just a plain ole what the heck goes on RCI cruises with pictures of inappropriate clothing choices. BTW, showering on cruises is a must with all the humidity - gross if you are not!

The reason I like @Ampurp85 writing style is you always tell the good, the bad, and the very ugly. You bring a good balance to the cruising. And, you're entertaining too.

^^^ @Ampurp85 rarely disappoints in a blog. You can tell by the writings that it will entertaining and that is what keeps me coming back.

@Adriana you have a very high tolerance meter that I'm sure I don't have. You definitely set the bar high for the grace under pressure. Hats off to you. With all that had gone on the Diamond Manager would have been the straw that broke the camels back for me. He would have taken a full brunt of righteous anger; controlled but angry. I can't even imagine how much you have spent to become a Diamond...

I was deployed to Haiti in 1997 and been all over the country; wonderful people until they aren't. I spent time at Cap Haiten that is just east of Labadee; beautiful area. Most of the time the violence stays down in Port-au- Prince, way to the south, but if it truly pops off more than the normal level of violence, and it hits the villages in the north, I'm sure Royal will relook the visits to Labadee. I really liked Haiti, but it has some serious problems both economically and politically.

^^^ I wonder if I can get away with that in a Crown Loft Suite Maybe I'll go on the Spectrum of the Seas where it is reversed and say I only speak English I don't understand.

I totally agree with your assessment and would love to see that happen; BUT, in this environment I think the cruise lines will take a very conservative approach like we are starting to see now. Cruise lines get the microscope on them as a vacation industry more than any of the other vacation venues. And, those headlines kill the industry so that is the reason they will be very conservative. As you can tell in this blog site alone there are many strong feelings on the way forward. If you bring up an idea, even what I would consider benign, lots of people get offended by the mere mention of an idea that may not be mainstream.

I'd almost rather have all the cruise lines go to 100% testing for everyone regardless of Vaccine status and here is why. Some of these vaccines shots taking by individuals can be very old by now, over a year old and efficacy rate could be close 0%, Then you have the 4 and 5 shot crowd and their efficacy rate is varying depending on a whole set of factors that I'm not going to get into. If the goal is to keep Covid off the ship, with the highest chance of success, the only way to do that is test 2-3 days prior to have as best of a baseline as you can have. We all know that this is not 100% guaranteed but it seems the easiest way to make it work. We are just going to have to learn to live with this virus always knowing it is present. I type this as I sit here with Covid coming back from a vacation at the South Carolina beaches. I had my shots, and boosted, but the little beast got me anyways. It didn't matter how many shots I have had because there is no meter on my body that tells me my day-to-day efficacy rate of the shots in my body...today you are at 05% left on your shot status - oh no better get another one. It becomes an exercise in chasing your own tail. I can say having a summer sickness is the worst way to end a vacation and it has truly over stayed its welcome. I had to take another 40 hours off from work, which I didn't want to do, and I have to wear a mask at work when I do go back because I'm typhoid Mary. Can't say I blame my co-workers this coughing doesn't sound good - ugh!