SpeedNoodles

Yeah, I'm not a fan, but it was only a couple of days, and luckily I didn't experience any loss of power or natural gas, so I really can't complain too much. Can't pretend that I'll miss it when I retire and move, though.

It's -7 today, which is a 20 degree improvement on the "warming up" side - the dogs will stay out much longer - and the winds have died down. We're supposed to have temps in the lower 40s on Sunday when I leave. So, a 70-80 degree temp shift in a matter of days. Go home, Minnesota, you're drunk.

First vacation/cruise in 8+YEARS!!! You guys are going to get sick of me, if you haven't already.

Me, every night at work - which explains my torrent of ridiculous responses and questions that tend to show up at 3am, lol

Ok, this might not be the correct answer, but it wins anyway.

Yes, we will be sailing out of Terminal A, so I will be sure to document it for you!

I have The Key for my sailing on Mariner next Monday - I can report back what I find, although it might not answer questions for those sailing on the Oasis-class ships. But I'll tell you what I know from my sailling anyway.

Ha, yeah, I did love being a zookeeper - everyone thought I was pretty cool back then. The stories and the scars. Now I work 911-police/fire/emt dispatch and I still have some pretty good stories - in many ways the jobs aren't that different, LOL.

It also completely depends on what kinds of animals you are talking about. If they are domestic animals (rescue dogs, for examples, or the donkey sanctuaries - be still my heart) that's one thing, but there are very, very few vaccines that are used on wild animals (former zoo keeper here). I did a cursory search - Daniel Johnson's emphasizes sloths and monkeys - nope, no vaccinations are used on these species of animals. It appears that it may be the same with Victor Bodden. The things you'd really want to be diligent about is thorough hand washing after handling any wild animal - getting salmonella is about as much fun as getting norovirus. I'm sure most of their animals are very used to being handled - but that being said, any animal with teeth can bite and any animals with claws can scratch (I could post my scar photos, lol) and there are never any guarantees. Just always follow the staff's directions. I'm all about sloths. I'm not a huge fan of non-human primates, having taken care of them for a decade. But that's just me. I don't know if they allow people to handle their toucans - I cared for several toucans and they purr (rattle) when they are enjoying being pet (which we did frequently because we were total suckers for that sound). I don't know how they take to strangers day after day interacting though, so I don't know if they allow that sort of interaction. Raccoons and coatamundi .. if anything is vaccinated it's going to be these (rabies and distemper, although there's no real research as to it's effectiveness of the vaccines). I'd probably forego direct contact with these two species (well, I wouldn't personally because I'm immunized against rabies, but the general population isn't). But all of the birds, rabbits, deer, sloths - yeah, I'd have no hesitation (again, with very good hygiene). I hope that helps a little bit!

I'll be there next Wednesday - I'm sure I won't get any information from anyone, but I'd be happy to post any pics of the construction that I can get, if people want them.

Thanks - I thought it should say somewhere but I don't see it tonight.

How many days pre-cruise do you have to make changes to anything purchased/scheduled on the Cruise Planner?

retracted - my original reply made no sense, even to me. ?

ummm... there are other sites?? ?

It's going to be -50 here tomorrow. So really anything will be an improvement :)

Are you in Minnesota, too?

If y'all down in Florida want to clean that weather mess up by next Sunday, I'd appreciate it. It'll be my first trip EVER to Florida. Impress me. LOL

I also just learned that even if it's offered in a the port you're going to be using, it may not be available for your airline, so check that it all matches for you (my port matches, my airline doesn't :( ) https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/does-royal-caribbean-offer-luggage-valet

I'm all kinds of envious over this trip - good for you!

Ok. Not sure whose policy you're referring to I guess. I was just quoting directly off of RCCL's site, but you are clearly more experienced than I am - I won't argue that! :-)

And they can be 17 oz cans, not just 12 oz cans (great for those who prefer the big energy drinks that tend towards 17oz).

Thank you for the explanation, and BOOOOOOO. ?

Thank you, James - I'll contact C&A. Nice to know it isn't just me :)

Maybe someone here knows, maybe not - but I'm confused. I've had 2 previous RC cruises, and I have 15 points. My cruises were 7 nights and 10 nights in length. I'm no math whiz, but wouldn't that be 17 points? Underneath each cruise it says "Points earned: 1", but at the top of the page it does say 15 total points. I'm kind of afraid to email them and ask .. they might demote it to 2 points! Anyone know if the point accrual was just less way back in the day?

So with the reading and searching that I've been doing I do see that lockers are available "for a nominal fee", which I'm totally cool with. But for this should I be bringing cash? Quarters? Dollar bills? Sand dollars? Polished seashells? Or just Sea Pass card? Anyone know? I may, or may not, need them, but I'd rather be prepared. And you guys totally rock.