melmar02

I can't ride in the backseat of a car without getting sick, can't go on roller coasters, and I have to wait to get on a plane until right before they close the doors because everyone walking down the aisle to board is too much for me. Forget watching the kids play a realistic video game or a scene in a movie than pans over the top down view of land or sea. I take a non-drowsy Dramamine every morning of the cruise though, and I am fine. I double up if we are going on an excursion that day which involves a smaller boat to get to the site such as a snorkeling excursion. Maybe her mom could pick something up just in case it's needed. They also make a kids version which worked for my kiddos too when we went through a storm on one of our sailings, but your friend's teenager is probably in the age/weight category for the adult version. Have a great trip!

That's great news! Thanks for letting us know your experience.

I just got on to check on our L&S options for our November cruise, and July and August are no longer on the calendar - for Galveston at least. Sept. 18 is now showing as the first sailing back.

The CDC runs the Vessel Sanitation Program which falls under the Public Health Service Act. They inspect and keep track of health issues similar to the way the Health Department does with restaurants on land. You can see health scores and inspection reports for ships that operate in the US on the CDC's website. https://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionSearch.aspx

Royal has a note about it on their website now. Announcement coming next week.

Could have been embarrassing! Fortunately it was just my kids...who unfortunately overheard a nice set of new vocabulary words. 🤬 I'm sure they'll wait to repeat them until we're at grandma's. 🤣

I may be making them again tonight for this very reason. Woke up to a fridge that had stopped working, and this afternoon my shorts got caught on a kitchen cabinet door handle...ripping it right off the hinges. 😳🤦‍♀️ On the bright side, yesterday I got a $2000 price drop on our January cruise. Bring on the drink package!

This is an old article from the beginning of May. They backed off the "there wont be a buffet" stance, but I don't believe there has been anything definitive announced yet. I think the buffet will be as it is now when there is an outbreak of noro - they will have staff in place to serve guests.

Has anyone had a kids sail free promo and done a lift & shift where one or more of the kids age out of free pricing? How do they price the child who is now too old to qualify for KSF?

Someone just posted the text below on a LOS Facebook page. Maybe there's hope after all? If you were booked on ALLURE and thought your options were limited to Liberty, That has changed today. Call if you wish to make changes. You can now: (1) Still move to Liberty, (2) Move to ANY other ship on a Caribbean cruise with your 7 night price protected (you can move 4 weeks before or after as well, like lift and shift), or (3) get a refund of your deposit (whether it was refundable or not). We moved to Symphony, for the two weeks, in January 2022..Mine is done! Call RC if you want to make changes. Your move is still covered by Cruise with Confidence.We did have to pay a small difference in port fees. We are VERY pleased, since we wouldn't be getting Allure in Galveston then.

It's not perfect, but I feel like I've been redeemed! I remembered to blend the Strawberry Daiquiri mix with ice this time, and it made all the difference. I also ran the blender a bit longer, and overall it's closer to the right consistency. This has been fun, and I can definitely see myself making a couple of these drinks when I'm missing being on a ship. Since our cruise was only a 4 day, that's all the drinks I planned on making. Now someone else needs to go on a drinking at home cruise. I don't know what a BBC is supposed to taste like, and I would really like to get it right the first time. 😆

It made enough syrup for about 3 drinks.

Thanks. I am still planning on re-doing the Lava Flow...we've just been visiting the at home Vintages the last couple nights instead. 🍷

DH was nominated to hold the meeting sign for our America's Cup excursion in St. Maarten on our first cruise because he's 6'4". And DS was nominated to hold the meeting sign for our excursion meeting in Roatan this past September because, well, 7 year olds are just cute. He was the smallest kid on the excursion.

If the Lava Flow is my favorite pool side drink, the Habanero & Grapefruit Daiquiri has to be my favorite indoor cruise ship drink. It hints at tropical because of the citrus, and has just a kiss of heat. I get one any time we play trivia, listen to the piano player, or just walk through the Schooner Bar for that matter. This is one of those specialty drinks that is only available in one place onboard, and my husband may have even accused me of making the Schooner Bar part of our route to whatever indoor activity we were headed to on our last couple cruises. #notsorry The Hanabero & Grapefruit Daiquiri is listed on the Schooner Bar's Rum page. I could not find a copy cat recipe for this drink anywhere…I’ve been looking since I first had one in September. I was able to find a grapefruit daiquiri recipe and a habanero margarita recipe. I combined and tweaked them to create my own version of Royal’s Habanero & Grapefruit Daiquiri. First the simple syrup. Zest from ½ Grapefruit ½ cup Grapefruit Juice ½ Habanero, sliced ½ cup Sugar Bring all ingredients to boil while stirring to dissolve sugar. Once at a boil, turn off the heat and let steep for 5 minutes. Let cool, strain, and store in refrigerator. For the daiquiri: 2 oz White Rum 2 oz Habanero Grapefruit Simple Syrup ¾ oz Lime Juice ¼ oz Maraschino Liqueur Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a glass. I had not seen Miami Club Rum before, which is listed as the rum used in Royal’s menu, so I went to their website. It’s a white rum, and I had Bacardi on hand. I also had Kirschwasser which I used for the maraschino liqueur, and it worked well. This drink was so good, and really close to the original. It probably would have been good even without having the trivia mood set by listening to Jeopardy in the background. I’m just sad that I only had enough simple syrup to make about 3 of these. I used a Ruby Red grapefruit, and it resulted in a deep coral-y, orange-y simple syrup, so it was a little darker than what they serve onboard which leans more toward pink. I'll be making these again, and I don't plan to change a thing. I felt really bad about how the Lava Flow looked, so I upped my presentation game on this one. The ice didn’t get strained out because I’m still using my sports blender bottle to mix drinks. 😆 They didn't last long enough for the cubes to melt though. I actually feel so bad about that pitiful looking Lava Flow, that I think it deserves a do-over, and I’m going to give it another try tonight. I mean...we drink with our eyes, right? 🍹