Dan Curtis

I am on the fence....I too was optimistic that things would get back to normal quickly..but I would say we are still 3-4 weeks away from the "peak" of this in NA....then things will start to get better.....not sure by May1st we are there though..
 
I am really hoping this 2 week period will do what we are all hoping with social distancing and all the closures up here in Canada. But in the US, I see a lot of places have put that ban in effect for 30 days.....which takes us to past mid-April.
 
 

We also have late May cruise on the 25th, usually at this point, we are starting to get excited and picking up little things for the trip, at this point I hold out little hope of going, and I am usually the guy that’s is the positive one, the glass half full guy. We fly from cvg( Cincinnati airport) so  travel to fll is pretty easy at this point, but who is,to,say the airlines will start limiting the number of people on a plane.Its a changing world fellow cruisers, everyone stay healthy and safe and see ya on the high seas soon. 

A decision had to be made between beer and toilet paper......

I guess the beer won!!

Yes, it's now BYOTP instead of BYOB!
 

WELLL........ IT'S TIME TO TURN SOUR GRAPES INTO FINE WINE!!!!
As we all know we have all been restricted to our respective countries and regions! We are blessed to be very close to an amazing area just outside of Okanagon Falls in BEAUTIFUL British Columbia.............
Cruise Cancelled ---- Check
Airfare Cancelled--- Check future travel voucher issued ... Maybe Cabo in October???
Hotels Cancelled--- Check
 
AIR BNB booked!!!! Check check and check!!! So excited for this vacation to happen we leave same day Mar 21, 2020 to Kaleden, BC
I have decided if it's not breaking any rules here I will blog this trip ........
Here is our place we are staying ? and the "big" boys practicing FINE WINE!!!
 

LOL! You are too quick! I was just about to edit and say that we're on Oasis (hopefully) at the end of May.
Have a great time!
 

Thanks to Jo-Ann Hall from the Navigator Facebook group for finding this out, here's what she posted... "For all of you in the same boat I am (pun intended) who has just had their cruise cancelled, I was actually able to speak to a RCCL guest services agent a little bit ago. They are offering two options: 
1. either a full refund or 
2. If you take a cruise credit instead of a refund you receive an additional 25% on top of what your cruise was. They aren’t processing it over the phone, he stated that we would all receive emails today or tomorrow and it will give us instructions how to get either one. He said if you do the refund it will take about 30 days to receive it. 
Of note, he sounded exhausted, defeated, and apologetic. Please everyone try to be extra nice to these folks. They aren’t at fault and they’re going through the same hell we are."

So in the end this policy or program is sneaky and not fair. I LOVE Royal but this program is a lot of BS. I don't like it and I do not think its fair or is it what it initially sounded like it was. We are gonna ride it out see if our Oasis cruise May 10th goes on.  

Got my Indy trip cancelled... Ok not end of world. Generous FCC offered. Great! Go to book another cruise... FCC can't be used for deposit??? I did not know that. FCC is already more than next trip by 500 and now 1000 more cash out of pocket to make booking. That means after this next trip I have 1500 FCC that has to be used within 6 months of my next sailing or lose it forever ??? That was another "detail " I wasn't privy to. This is not the same as that widely advertised cancellation policy... Careful...

My best guess would be Gramd Cayman, beautiful beaches and water. 

Just paid off our May 25th cruise and saved over 400 as cruise went down, still planning on going.

It seems like a good,time to buy some stock in some of the cruise lines,ride it out, cruising is a hot industry and things will pass. With that being said, Royal has spent so much on being bigger and better and taken small things away from the customer . Cruising 20 years ago was just simpler and better in my opinion. 

RCI could probably sell those private destinations and recoup some money...wouldn't hurt my feelings! ?

At.Thomas was good today. Got off the ship and took a Taxi to Meghan’s Bay Beach. Taxi was $10 a person one way. There were five ships in port today. Two including Symphony on one side and three other on the other side. 
The beach today was PACKED! They ran out of chairs and we got there around 10:30 am. If you are going to that beach I suggest getting there real early to ensure chairs, etc. if you want to rent those. The beach is absolutely beautiful and deserves  the publicity it receives. It was $10 back to the port with a couple of picture stops and an hour stop shopping downtown. I was excited to find a bottle of Blanton’s bourbon today. For Bourbon drinkers it’s a very difficult find. Back at the ship ate wings at Playmakers and the kids zip-lined, Ultimate Abyss and the Arcade. 
Tonight, we eat Chops. Look forward to it. 

IMG_4844.MOV Yesterday was great other than the weather. Just yours the ship with our friends who were on their first cruise. Went to the ice skating show after MDR and then stopped by the Schooner Bar, Boleros,  Studio B and the Pub. Didn’t stay in any more than 15 minutes, just wanted a feel. Had to get up early for today but that’s only after I won $50 playing blackjack. I know small stakes but that’s big for me. ?  The folks with My time dining were very accommodating with our party of 14. 
i have cruised before but my major takeaway if this cruise, and forgive the All CAPS but it’s “ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT”. The worse they can say is no or offer an alternative but they will bend over backwards to accommodate most requests. 
Today in St.Kitts and went to the Marriott resort for the day on the beach and this hotel pool.  The weather is beautiful, 83 and sunny. We have been starving for good weather. We have reservations at Wonderland tonight with the kids. Look forward to it. 
Sidebar:  The Starbucks on board is like being at home other than they don’t have the warmer for breakfast sandwiches or lunch sandwiches. They have the vast bay majority of the drinks you want from home with the sweetness that Starbucks offers, they don’t use the Royal Caribbean sweetness. They are truly an independently owned type of operation who happen to be on a cruise ship. Yes you can use your Starbucks apps to purchase but NOT redeem. You can also use your Seapass or being a Starbucks gift card. No, your drink package DOES NOT WORK. I see this question gets asked a lot and I did myself prior to the cruise. 
As with most who travel on the larger boats when you pull into a port you feel as you are the big dog, the big man ok campus and compared to the other ships most folks are truly in awe. Once you get off the ship and compare to the other ships it makes you appreciate how huge this ship is. Thank you for taking the time to read my  Rambling  ? 
 
The drones at the ice show are GREAT!

Just paid off our May 25th cruise and saved over 400 as cruise went down, still planning on going.

I know everyone loves food so I thought my next post would be of our Day 1 dinner.
To start with we had Caeser salad (no photo since everyone knows what that looks like lol). For my main I had the Slow Roaster Prime Rib was supposed to come with potato croquette, but they ended up giving me a baked potato because of my allergies. For desert I just had berries as nothing was safe for me to eat :(. Sandra also had a Caeser salad for the starter. For a main she had the Southern Fried Chicken. She also had the berries as she had some sweets in the Windjammer.
         
I also got you guys some photos of the Windjammer dinner options.
















Hope you enjoyed ?

It seems like a good,time to buy some stock in some of the cruise lines,ride it out, cruising is a hot industry and things will pass. With that being said, Royal has spent so much on being bigger and better and taken small things away from the customer . Cruising 20 years ago was just simpler and better in my opinion. 

You must be out of your cabin by 8:30 and generally off the ship by 10:00....but with everything pretty much closed down, there isn't much to do onboard.  We usually get a nice, leisurely breakfast and then go.

Noon should be no problem at all, unless something unforeseen happens.

Hey Guys,
I haven't been on in awhile but wanted to give you guys some peeks into Freedom since this is its first cruise after being amped. For those on Periscope I have been doing some posting there too. But there are somethings I know you guys love that cant be easily put on there.
Yesterday was a good day. When we got on they gave everyone a glass of bubbles (If you were lucky you could also get more :)).

Since the ship had been in port for a few days it was available right away. We were also able to board right away. Sadly, the rooms weren't updated and ours had a leak in the shower. Some changes are subtle and some are huge.

        


(More ship photos to come or check out my scopes)
After touring for the morning ended up at Lime and Coconut for a Lava Flow.

After that they had some free shots in the promenade so I had to get in on that. Little sample shots, but hey, they are free lol.
Then we just pretty much relaxed, explored a little and went to dinner (Food photos will be in my next post). 
Not too much was going on as it was raining out. The coolest part of the balloon drop was when the new addition of a platform that comes down from the ceiling. (Will need to find a good way to post the video)
For a ship that was practically sold out online, it is very empty. Super easy to find spots in the windjammer, not many lines, dinner was also pretty empty.
















After that we pretty much just relaxed and toured the trip until dinner time. (Food post to follow)
Everything has been pretty nice. Many of the staff do seem brand new though but are fighting their way through it pretty well. The ship does feel empty though since it was sold out online prior to sailing. Many people have been saying their bids were won around the minimum. It was super easy to get a table at dinner time, the MDR was empty except for window seats. I think a lot of people didn't make it due to the virus. (Not gonna stop me though lol).
I did forget to get some photos while I was scoping yesterday so will try to get those to post. I also need to find a good way to post the video of the balloon drop I took because they added a cool feature where the cruise director is on a platform that dropped from the ceiling (don't remember that from before).
Let me know if there is anything you guys really want to see and I will try and get it.

I would like to request help from anyone departing any rcc cruises in the Caribbean in the next 3 weeks to report back to this site and inform others how it went and if you had any issues of passenger illnesses and if any port of calls refused ship passenger disembarkation. This would be so helpful to myself and many others.  Thank you in advance.  I have a cruise coming up in April,  and I intend on doing this for others.  Thank you.

It may have already, we cruise the end of May and went to pay off and cruise , went down around 400 dollars for me and my wife, I was glad I hadn't made final payment yet.

Very windy day today started off at Solarium Bistro for breakfast with two made to order eggs. I drink almond milk and just had to request it and they provided for my coffee. Will see how El Loco fresh is for lunch. 
 
in between lunch on deck 15 aft having a cigar with Buffalo Trace living a great life. YOLO.