FionaMG
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FionaMG last won the day on December 7 2022
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FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
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FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
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OCSC Mike reacted to a post in a topic: WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
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FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: MDR food quality
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FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
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FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
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WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
FionaMG replied to OCSC Mike's topic in Live Blogs
Glad to see you've got your appetite back. But does this mean you didn't get and chocolate chip at Coco Cay??? -
FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
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SweetPea reacted to a post in a topic: Symphony of the Seas - 8-night Southern Caribbean - 10-18 February 2024 - ***RECAP*** with pics
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SweetPea reacted to a post in a topic: Symphony of the Seas - 8-night Southern Caribbean - 10-18 February 2024 - ***RECAP*** with pics
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SweetPea reacted to a post in a topic: Symphony of the Seas - 8-night Southern Caribbean - 10-18 February 2024 - ***RECAP*** with pics
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SweetPea reacted to a post in a topic: Symphony of the Seas - 8-night Southern Caribbean - 10-18 February 2024 - ***RECAP*** with pics
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SweetPea reacted to a post in a topic: Symphony of the Seas - 8-night Southern Caribbean - 10-18 February 2024 - ***RECAP*** with pics
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jbrinkm reacted to a post in a topic: Orchestrating an Intergenerational family vacation on Symphony of the Seas, March 23-31, 2024
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FionaMG started following Birthday Cake , Orchestrating an Intergenerational family vacation on Symphony of the Seas, March 23-31, 2024 , MDR food quality and 3 others
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FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: Orchestrating an Intergenerational family vacation on Symphony of the Seas, March 23-31, 2024
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FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
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WAAAYTOOO reacted to a post in a topic: MDR food quality
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If you haven't seen it already, you might like to take a look at my recent recap blog from our Symphony cruise last month. I cover our evening meals in there, with pics. I hope it helps and you have a wonderful cruise.
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Simon84 reacted to a post in a topic: Voom internet question
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FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
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You just use whatsapp or another app that works through wifi, such as FB messenger.
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That's exactly how it works.
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FionaMG reacted to a post in a topic: WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
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Sorry to hear this but thanks for posting because the information could help others.
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WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
FionaMG replied to OCSC Mike's topic in Live Blogs
It all looks amazing . Keep it coming -
WONDERing How Cruise #2 Will Go - March 17-24, 2024
FionaMG replied to OCSC Mike's topic in Live Blogs
Have fun!!!! -
Best room options for Family of four on Symphony
FionaMG replied to Kezza's topic in Royal Caribbean Discussion
Does the second room have to have a balcony? Could you do an inside room across the hall for your teens? -
If anyone's interested in China/Japan, Spectrum sailings out of Shanghai have just gone up on the website through to April 2026.
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Going back to just before covid now but we were invited to a birthday celebration on Adventure. The chocolate cake was fantastic. Yummy !
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Unlimited Dining Package 24 hour flash sale 40% off
FionaMG replied to FionaMG's topic in Royal Caribbean Dining
I'm not seeing it any more, so maybe it's cruise dependent or the intern is in charge. -
The thing with doing a "live" report is that it eats into your time on board, time that you want to be spending with the people you're cruising with. I've done a couple of lives and it's hard work because you need to try and find a balance between your phyiscal companions and your virtual ones. If you notice that it's becoming a chore rather than a pleasure, then you should take that as a sign that it's time to stop. You can always continue it afterwards as a recap if you want to. My strategy for a live report is to split it into two sessions, one in the morning when I post the Compass, acknowledge replies from other posters and answer any questions, if I can. The second is in the evening, in my case when DH is having his casino time, so it doesn't clash with time that we want to spend doing something together. At that time, I'll post a bit about what we've done during the day along with the MDR dinner menu and the obligatory food porn pics. That helps keep the whole thing under control because otherwise it can get out of hand and you find yourself spending more time writing on your blog than actually doing stuff on the cruise. That said, I think if I were doing a solo cruise (never done one), I would probably spend more time blogging as my time would be all my own and I wouldn't be missing out on time spent with my travel companions.
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Day Twelve - Cruise Day Nine - Eviction And so the dreaded disembarkation day had finally rolled around. We were up at 6 am so we would have time to have our final breakfast without rushing. The WJ was busy as expected but not a complete zoo. Afterwards we headed to our meeting point in Studio B. We had tag no. 1 as we were booked on the Everglades excursion with drop-off at Miami Airport. Since our flights back across the pond are usually late afternoon, we find this is as convenient a way as any to get to the airport and not have to spend ages there. On this particular occasion, however, our flight was much later; it was not due to depart from Miami until 11.50 pm, so that was still going to be a lot of hanging around the airport. The plan that we came up with was, on arrival at the airport, dump our bags at the left luggage facility and head into Bayside for a wander and dinner, returning in time to check in for our flight. On paper this should have worked nicely. In reality we were very badly let down by the weather and it all went a bit pear-shaped. When I checked the weather forecast the evening before it said it was going to be raining in Miami for the whole entire day. Well, of course, we scoffed at that. Showers, for sure, nothing new in Miami, but the whole entire day? Nah. Wrong. Yes. The WHOLE ENTIRE day. When we got off the ship the sky was like lead. However, the rain kept off all the way to the airboat place, which was the Everglades Holiday Park. We were very relieved to see that the boats had roofs as the last couple of times we've done this trip they were open. I don't know if they maybe have different boats that they use depending on the weather. Ours was the second boat of the day and the rain started when we were half way through the ride. The wildlife was all in hiding except for a single grey heron and by the time we got off the boat it was pelting. The boat ride was followed by a show, which fortunately was also under cover but with such heavy rain we weren't able to spend the remainder of our time there out in the open. Meanwhile more and more buses were arriving and everyone was packing into the small sheltered area while they waited for what would undoubtedly be rather miserable rides. I felt sorry for anyone who was doing this for the first time because it's really fun if the weather's good and you get to see some wildlife. Consequently, the only picture we have of this excursion is the free one taken at the park just before we got on the airboat. Still smiling here cos it's not raining yet! Since everyone was back at the bus way ahead of time, we arrived at the airport way ahead of time. It was midday when they dropped us so we now had nearly 12 hours to kill and it was still pouring. Obviously leaving our luggage and heading into Miami in the pouring rain wasn't going to happen but to make matters worse, the airport was rammed and there were people everywhere, sitting on their suitcases or strewn all over the floor. It was then that I remembered the hotel inside Miami Airport. Many years ago, we had had lunch there and I remembered it being a much pleasanter spot than the airport concourse. It was very poorly signposted but we eventually managed to find it and made our way up there. It's in concourse E and the restaurant is called Vienna. This is the view from the window out over the runway, so you can see what an awful day it was. Anyway, we had the turkey club sandwich for lunch and it was pretty decent and kept us entertained for a while. In the same area as the restaurant, they have a small lounge corner and a bar, and you have access to the hotel's free wifi. So that is where we spent the whole day. The rain never let up and we eventually had dinner there too before heading back into the airport to check in for our flight. Pepperoni flabread. I can tell you that if you ever get stuck for hours at Miami Airport, you could do much worse than spend the time here. It was quiet and comfortable and saved us from having an absolutely miserable last day. It was STILL raining when our flight eventually left at 1.10 am, so we were pretty tired and I have to say that having the flight depart at a time that did actually equate to bedtime meant that I managed to get some sleep, so that was actually a plus. Apart from being a bit bumpy due to the very strong tailwinds, the journey back across the pond was uneventful. We only had a couple of hours layover in Lisbon and arrived back home early evening local time less tired than we usually are precisely because of getting a good few hours sleep. I would book that late flight again for this very reason. And that brings our Symphony Super Bowl Birthday Bash cruise to an end. It was very enjoyable, expectations were largely met and I can't wait for the next one! Thanks to everyone for following along. It's very much appreciated and I hope to do another in the not too distant future.