PG Cruiser

Welcome Aboard Show

I appreciate the offer but I don’t drink.

CHOPS GRILLE +1 Offer

It was very good

Hi @twangster! I think you were seated two tables away from me at Chops Grille.

SAIL AWAY PARTY at the Centrum Rainy weather outside

It’s the first time I’ve tried it. It was a thrill to see the creases vanish. Got the iron from a Walmart in Miami.

CRUISING TIP: “Ironing” clothes with Hair Iron It works!!!

THE KEY Welcome Lunch

THE KEY Waiting Lounge

CHECK IN AREA Not busy at all at 10:30AM

EMBARKATION DAY Booked a shuttle for $12 from my hotel in the West/Doral area to the Port of Miami.

My passport card is in the same case as my passport book. I think I should keep them separate.

Uh-oh... I just realized I left my passport at home. Do I have a problem? I have my US Driver’s License. I don’t have a birth certificate with me. I have a photo of my passport on my phone. EDIT: Ooops... I spoke too soon. It was in my other bag. Lack of sleep has messed up my focus.

PRE-CRUISE: Overnight before sailing @Matt often says in his live videos that you won’t get any sleep the night before a cruise. I’m experiencing the fulfillment of that “prophecy” this very moment, posting this at 3:00AM while tossing and turning on my bed in a Miami hotel. Morning seems so far away.

PRE-CRUISE: Eve of Sailing Is the Miami Airport a maze or what? Finding Baggage Claim is like being in an episode of “Amazing Race”

I’m starting this blog for my sailing on the Empress. Seeing so much content on the Empress already on this forum, my blog will not be an exhaustive one, especially because I know that a much better blogger is also on this sailing (*cough* @twangster*cough*) For those who would like some recon mission on this ship, I’d gladly do what I can.

Haifa Port taken from the Baha’i Gardens

I’m not sure I’m reading this right. Does it mean you’ll be on the Empress on November 15th?

I have posted it as a reply to posts by clueless people who ask, "Why would there be an open window in the children's play area on the 11th deck of a ship?" I so want to reply to them, "Hey, go one deck up and you will see an entire deck surrounded by just OPEN railings!!! How careless of the cruise company!!!" (Sarcasm intended)

EXACTLY! This is the reason why I have gotten very defensive of Royal on this issue. I am beyond appalled by the lawyer's allegations and spin on the narrative. The way I see it, the cause of the accident is NOT the children's play area being on that deck with the windows, NOT the open window, NOT the toddler being fond of banging glass on hockey games, NOT the lack of additional safety measures taken by Royal ... IT IS THE GRANDFATHER PUTTING THE TODDLER ON THE RAILING!!!

I hate reading comments on social media pages of people who obviously have never been on a Royal Caribbean ship and maybe have never cruised all their life so I made this...

I do not like Royal to settle. It will only encourage more stupid and risky behavior among thrill-seeking cruisers.

Believe me, I want to book a cruise on the Freedom just to do an "amateur investigation" on this incident. I want to take the lawyer's statements on media and the parents' statements on NBC and refute all of them in a video.

NBC is still pushing back on the ship's negligence based on the family's lawyer's statement. The TODAY show was quoting the family as saying, "Royal Caribbean could have prevented the accident by taking additional safety precautions." For those of us who have sailed on Royal Caribbean ships, what ADDITIONAL safety precautions could the company have take in this situation? Do we want (more) signage on every open ledge, window, and balcony? Do we want barriers to those areas? Do we want kids banned from those areas?