melmar02

Check page 2 of your booking confirmation. Our Radience 2022 shows night 2 and 6.

Over the door shoe hanger (for everything except shoes) and pop-up clothes hampers.

I can't speak to littles and SC, but we took our oldest on a plane ride from TX to VA when she was 7 months. We bought her a seat of her own, and put her in her car seat in it. Of course we took her out when she needed to be entertained, but most of the time she was in her seat. Not sure how far you are flying, but every time I'm on a flight where there is a kid on a parent's lap, I overhear that they regret it. It was worth the money for us. We were prepared with extra pacifiers, sippy cups, bottles, snacks, and teething rings for the air pressure change. Toys galore. We went out of our way to bring quiet toys - no body wants to hear nursery rhymes blaring for 4 hours. Extra diapers and wipes just in case in the diaper bag. Change of clothes for her and an extra shirt for me, just in case. Once we were in the air she slept about half of the way, but most of that stuff came in handy when we were in the airport and when she was awake on the flight. Several people that were in the rows right around us on that flight thanked us for being prepared when we got off the plane, so I don't think we overpacked.

648 days until we board her!

Well, on Saturday morning the stone crew came...and packed up their truck. DH went out and asked why they were leaving. They called their supervisor who told DH that he was going to come out with the crew and our PM all at once to figure out "what to do with the firepit". ? We figured that because the new structure was a little smaller they were having a hard time figuring out how to wrap the veneer without the stones cracking. Everyone came out on Monday, and the PM instantly had a solution (just cut the 2 foot strips of veneer into smaller sections). He and the stone crew supervisor then went around and discussed everything that his crews still needed to finish/ fix. By the end of the day not only was the stone surround and coping in place on our firepit, but the grill doors were aligned with the grill, the spa overflow coping facet edges had been ground down to a round shape, some scratches in the counter top were buffed out, and a section of the back wall (the back side of the wall) that could be seen from the deck received a skim coat so it didn't just look like concrete. Monday put a huge dent in the remaining punch list. The big item left is that the deck still needs to be repaired around the firepit and where a stone came off at the steps. That will be done by a different crew with the stone company. The edges of the firepit need to be ground down to a circle as well. Everything was still wet by the time the guys left on Monday, so they really couldn't take care of it then. The PM stopped by yesterday morning to evaluate the work and said the deck crew will take care of it, and if not, he would do it himself. ? He also said that he would probably have a date for the plaster by the end of the week. That's starting to feel like the perpetual "2 weeks" from The Money Pit. At least the pups are enjoying the new pool.

How does Air 2 Sea work if you plan to fly in a day early? We have a pre-cruise land package - do we have to find our own way to the hotel? Is there any other detail that we need to be aware of?

Super Mario has lived on various Royal Caribbean ships for years.

We've never done an excursion through the ship. We usually go on our own to Paradise Beach or we go with an independent dive operator if we don't have the kids. Are you looking for a beach day, something adventurous, shopping?

I'm so excited for you! Enjoy!

Good things were in the works today! One of the stone company's crews showed up at 10:30 this morning and started tearing down the firepit. The PM showed up about 15 minuteslater. DH took the day off and "supervised" from the kitchen window. The weird egg shaped structure was completely dismantled by noon. And the new cinder block form was built by 2:30 this afternoon. It's a circle!! They waited for about an hour for...I'm not sure what. Then they gathered their tools in neat piles and left for the day. Since their tools are here, hopefully they will be back in the morning.

Karaoke. I have the voice of a cat caught in a garbage disposal. ? And you won't ever find me at the Dog House either. I hate hot dogs. I will never stay in an inside room. Forget that I'm a suite snob. We actually use our room. DD is on the spectrum, and we need a space she can use to process all the stimulus of the day for an hour or so in the afternoons.

Wow! It sounds like you need a little vacation with all that you have going on right now. Can't wait to follow along!

You may have just made my skin crawl a little. ?

We stay in Clear Lake the night or two before and make a mini-vacation out of the pre-cruise time. Johnson Space Center and Kemah boardwalk are right there along with a ton of restaurants. Houston museums and the zoo are just 20-30 minutes from there. We have stayed at a couple different Hilton properties (there are several) in that area - cheaper than Galveston and no multi night stay requirement.

Jorge was the concierge on our last cruise, just a couple of weeks before the shut down. He was wonderful and really went above and beyond to make my MIL feel special when the dining room messed up his little request to sing her happy birthday. We would love to sail with him again!

I have done this as well. The box goes in my regular luggage (not my carry on), and it has never been stopped by security (yet anyway). My flat iron on the other hand...

The app shows the al a carte prices for the individual rolls, and your estimate range looks correct with most of the specialty rolls on the list at $13. Here are a couple screen shots from the Oasis Sept. 5 sailing. Of course the prices could be updated closer to sailing, but it looks like you are in the ballpark.

Congrats!

@MicDay Thanks! @JLMoran You don't see a lot of plastic fences around here - I think the Texas sun and heat are too much for them. Baby steps... the plumber stopped by and connected the gas line to the grill and to the burner in the firepit. I asked if we needed to do anything special now that the burner is connected when they repair the firepit, and he said no. Then he mentioned that he and the stone guys are usually tripping all over each other when he lays the gas lines but he has not seen them in a while ? Great. They haven't come to fix the issues like they were supposed to, and DH is waiting on a call back from the PM.

Here are those two corners completed with the top rails. By code, the gates have to have a spring close mechanism. The latches also have to be 54 inches from the ground to help prevent little kids from getting into our backyard on their own. From the sidewalk, it's just one, continuous fence now. We are really pleased with how it turned out. We went with pre-stained boards, and DH really likes the color. It's quite a bit lighter than I was expecting (and lighter than the old fence as well), but I think the color is growing on me. Last night I was thinking we would just go back to the darker color when we have to have it stained again in a few years, but this morning I really like it too. Or maybe it's just that we finally have privacy again after having those panels down for 6 months.

The fence guys were on it yesterday, and they finished 99.9% of the job. DH asked for a specific kind of latch for the gates which they didn't have with them. One of the fence guys said it should take just a few minutes to change them out. First they finished attaching the vertical pieces. They started at a corner and once a piece was in place, they hung a spacer next to it and nailed the next plank in place. Once the spaced row was complete, they went back and nailed the planks to cover the gaps. Once all the planks were nailed, they cut the excess at the top of the fence in the back corner of the yard that slopes down. Just a little more off the top. The back fence sloped down about two feet in that corner. But since the fence is higher now to meet the neighbor's new 8 foot fence, the change in height is not as dramatic. Instead of angling the fence down, we decided to step down the difference. Our side fence, on the right side of the pool, had a small step down as well, but it was only a couple inches.

We're getting closer! Yesterday the fence company came, and they had the old fence torn down and all of the new fence's horizontal cross rails up by noon. They completed installing a little more than half of the fence pickets by the end of the day. They may finish today, but I could see this project spilling into tomorrow. In addition to the remaining pickets, they will be adding a top rail and have to build two gates. When we built the house we didn't pay for a second gate, but with the pool equipment of the opposite side of the house from our original gate, it will be more convenient to have an access point from that side of the back yard. The project manager came by last night too. He finally got in touch with the stone company which said they will have the a crew here within the week to fix the firepit and grill door alignment as well as grind some angular edges on the side of the spa coping. DH asked what the plan was if they didn't show up, and the PM said if they aren't here by this weekend, he is going to hire a different sub to fix the work at their expense. Also he said the plaster crew has been making progress on their backlog. Instead of saying it would be "a few weeks" before we get plaster, he said it won't be this week. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but maybe we'll have water by the 4th of July!

There was a little more progress yesterday. The pool company's lighting truck showed up, and they installed the lights on the steps. I guess the thought was why wait for the stone crew when they can get it done now. I'll take it! They pried off a couple small pavers on the step and drilled through the concrete to fish the wires through. They did the same to get the wires through to the deck level. The stone guys will just have to cut a track for the wires on the underside of the replacement stone that came off and the two little ones that were removed. The original plan was for there to be one light at the center, underside of each step overhang. The deck wound up being a couple inches shorter than originally planned, so the light under the bottom edge would almost be at ground level once the sod is laid. The fix was to space the lights on the same level. In hindsight, the lights aren't necessary. We thought it would be really dark in that area of the yard with the kitchen blocking the light from the patio, but since there is a can light directly above the kitchen, it's not dark at all. We really don't need the step lights from a functional standpoint, but I still think it will be a nice finishing touch and am glad we added them to the project.

I hope this is done before then! We're not back on a ship until February! With the exception of sod and sprinkler repair which happens after water is in the pool, I think the project will be finished in another month (hopefully). We're two months behind our quoted 3-4 month schedule. It will be 6 months in about 10 days. We've heard that people getting quotes now are being told anywhere from 7 months to a year.?

Unfortunately, there hasn't been much progress to report. Three things have happened in the last 3 weeks. First, the stone guys came back out the next day as promised and replaced the stones they stole from the patio area to finish the steps. After they left we noticed they didn't install the lights on the steps that the electrician had previously wired and left for them. We waited a couple days to use the steps to make sure the concrete had a chance to dry, and one of the stones on the edge of the deck slipped out from under my husband's foot, flipped, and broke when it landed on the step below (he's fine). The PM came out and said just by looking at it he could tell they didn't get the concrete wet enough when the stones were set. They are going to have to pull all the edge pavers up anyway to run the wires for the lights they forgot to set in the steps...just add it to the list. He checked the rest of the edge stones, and they are are secure for now. Second the fence posts that were taken down to get into our yard were put back up. The one in the big, 2 panel gap was welded back into place. On the side of the house, next to the pool equipment, the missing post was attached to the house instead of just cemented into the ground. It was still a little wet over there from the 3 weeks of rain, and the trench from the equipment pad into the backyard was still there, so there wasn't really any ground to set it into anyway. This week, the landscape subcontractor came out to do the final grade. They filled in the remaining trenches, added dirt to level out the area around the pool, and ran the drains from the gutters, firepit, and pool overflow away from the house. The PM had told us before where he wanted the drains to end, and that wasn't lining up with where the landscape company was running the pipes. DH texted the PM who was at another project around the corner. He was here within a few minutes to explain to the crew where the drain pipes needed to terminate. The crew did not look happy, but they started digging in the right direction. Then they stopped about 6 feet short of where they were supposed to. ? The PM wanted the drains in a specific location so the sidewalk wouldn't be flooded when we got a lot of rain. I am personally ok with where they are. The drainage on the sidewalk is good (water runs toward the street like it should). Besides, if it's raining, the sidewalk is going to be wet anyway, right? ? Our fence builder has scheduled us for this coming Monday, and the new fence will take a few days since we are replacing the entire perimeter. I'm glad the grading has been done so they don't have to work around a giant gap on the side of the house. Also, with that last trench filled in, we were able to get the weed eater into the back yard to get the grass under control, and we'll be able to get a mower back there this weekend. Mowing season starts in late March/early April around here, and with all the rain and uncontrolled growth, the grass (and weeds) was a couple feet high back there. The next big thing is plaster. The PM told us a couple months ago that the plaster crews always run behind by a couple weeks. With the rain, even more so now. He said he put us in the queue before grading, so maybe week after next? As for the little things, well, there are a lot of them. The punch list we have going has over a dozen little things that still need to be completed or repaired. 90% of that list is all for the stone subcontractor. With the exception of the firepit and grill door alignment, they're all pretty minor, and the whole thing could be knocked out in a couple days. I will say, the final grade makes it feel like we have our yard back. We can safely walk anywhere on our property now, and the yard feels bigger now that the gaps in the ground are all closed. Having the fence back up will make another huge difference. We really took for granted how easy it was to just open the door to let the dogs out, especially first thing in the morning.