MicDay

Gators in the pool ?
I’ll take snowstorms and subzero temperatures over that, thank you very much. 
 
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I think the gator thing is a myth.  We have been here for nearly a year now and never seen one !!
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Finally got some pictures of the lights.
We had our "pool school" yesterday, and the system was taken out of service mode. We had lots of fun playing with the led lights and turning the jets and waterfalls on and off from an app on our phones. The plaster is still curing, so no heat for a few more weeks. We really won't need it until the end of September anyway. 

We took our own gear and used it every chance we could.
I third what @AshleyDilloand @cdixon22 said, packing is a bit of a hassle but worth it for us.
We tried the newer full face snorkel gear, worked but I prefer the tried and true mask/snorkel set. 

Thank you for the replies!!
 

I don't care for the full face mask either.  Something about the way I have to hold my head, hurts my neck.  Gimme the ol' timey mask and snorkel.

We took our own gear and used it every chance we could.
I third what @AshleyDilloand @cdixon22 said, packing is a bit of a hassle but worth it for us.
We tried the newer full face snorkel gear, worked but I prefer the tried and true mask/snorkel set. 

We took our own gear and used it every chance we could.
I third what @AshleyDilloand @cdixon22 said, packing is a bit of a hassle but worth it for us.
We tried the newer full face snorkel gear, worked but I prefer the tried and true mask/snorkel set. 

We took our own gear and used it every chance we could.
I third what @AshleyDilloand @cdixon22 said, packing is a bit of a hassle but worth it for us.
We tried the newer full face snorkel gear, worked but I prefer the tried and true mask/snorkel set. 

In my view, the Biden administration's announcement regarding the need for a booster is continuation of the ultra-conservative, looking like we are doing something policies. The unintended consequence of this is that no one will hear the additional information provided in White House and CDC press briefings today that vaccines are still effective in preventing serious illness and death. What they will think, and this thinking will be augmented by the continuous fear narrative from the media, that vaccines don't work and ask, why should I take the shots. I wonder if the administration considered that in what I consider a premature recommendation for boosters in the same ordered priorities as the initial shots were delivered. Lets look at the facts:
As of August 9th, 166M Americans were fully vaccinated. 49 states reported 8054 reinfections with COVID. That is a reinfection rate that caused serious illness or death of 0.0048%. Think about that for a moment and ask yourself does that reinfection rate warrant announcements that what will be seen by many as the vaccinations don't work, why should I take them?  Worse, even the CDC doesn't like it's data and says so at their cumbersome web site. They then admit that they think the reported breakthrough cases are under counts. On what basis? The one thing I do agree with is their data sucks. I don't trust it, and for good reasons, yet this ultra conservative approach to the pandemic that the CDC is taking, with the requirement for boosters now being official as the latest, is going to precipitate untoward harm both economic and social.  The current increase in new cases and concurrently but at a much lower rate of deaths and hospitalizations is both highly regional and strongly correlated with vaccination rates. If we want to contain this thing, the best thing to do is to get as many people as possible vaccinated - I say this notwithstanding a rational decision by many that can't or don't want to get vaccinated. I support that right to choose. Studies show there is a large pool of people eligible for vaccination that don't know about the shot, can't take time off from work, child care, any number of reasons to get one or don't have the means to get to a place where they are being administered. Focus on that pool. Doing that can easily push the number of vaccinated Americans to an 80-90% level!   I worry less about COVID than I do about the people's perceptions of the real risks. I've made it clear hear that I don't think the media helps clarifying the actual risks and how to live with COVID and manage those risk preferring instead to pursue this constant fear narrative. I worry less about COVID than I do about governments and businesses caving to public pressure to "DO SOMETHING" and in that process fail to properly evaluate actual risks and evaluate costs of restrictions to mobility and social interaction with PH benefits. Instead, will get more closings and more restrictions. It pisses me off.
With that background, the speculative answer to how will the cruise lines react to official announcements recommending boosters is that to be considered fully vaccinated and to board, in general, you'll need a booster. That will precipitate another round for the cruise lines of developing complicated algorithms depending on which vaccine you received to determine if you can board. More confusion entirely avoidable by federal PH officials recognizing that the available data makes it clear that the risk of reinfection precipitating serious disease is incredibly low with 1 shot of the J&J vaccine and two form the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The need for boosters correctly remains unknown for the majority of Americans. Given the known risks of reinfection the CDC's recommendations that boosters be administered to the general public is irresponsibly premature. 
 

May 5th sailing starts in Vancouver and ends in Seattle correct?

Yep, that's correct.

Craziest thing I've ever seen in my life!!! I saw someone at the buffet, get this..... only get 1 plate of food without returning for more!!! Blew my mind

A guest dressed up like the Pope, nowhere near October. A guest in a full bunny costume in an elevator, nowhere near October. A dog walking by itself doing laps around the upper pool deck level. A child dropping his swim trunks on the stairs of a hot tub and immediately emptying the hot tub in a caddy shack moment (Carnival). A Carnival ship nearly hitting us (Oasis) right after actually hitting another Carnival ship.  @mpoole3 rather enjoying being dressed in drag for Quest

I have a few, but was told “what happens on the RC Blog group cruise, stays on the cruise ship”!

This older lady who had a walker with a basket and in the basket was fur-real cat and a huge horn.
You could hear her all over the ship, she would honk that horn if she felt you were in her way.
My daughter and I got on an elevator, as my husband was about to step on and there she was.  
She honked that horn at him and he jumped about a foot off the ground.
We saw/heard her at customs on disembarkment day wearing 20 different crew badges (DD counted them)

This older lady who had a walker with a basket and in the basket was fur-real cat and a huge horn.
You could hear her all over the ship, she would honk that horn if she felt you were in her way.
My daughter and I got on an elevator, as my husband was about to step on and there she was.  
She honked that horn at him and he jumped about a foot off the ground.
We saw/heard her at customs on disembarkment day wearing 20 different crew badges (DD counted them)

This older lady who had a walker with a basket and in the basket was fur-real cat and a huge horn.
You could hear her all over the ship, she would honk that horn if she felt you were in her way.
My daughter and I got on an elevator, as my husband was about to step on and there she was.  
She honked that horn at him and he jumped about a foot off the ground.
We saw/heard her at customs on disembarkment day wearing 20 different crew badges (DD counted them)

This older lady who had a walker with a basket and in the basket was fur-real cat and a huge horn.
You could hear her all over the ship, she would honk that horn if she felt you were in her way.
My daughter and I got on an elevator, as my husband was about to step on and there she was.  
She honked that horn at him and he jumped about a foot off the ground.
We saw/heard her at customs on disembarkment day wearing 20 different crew badges (DD counted them)

A woman in the windjammer on boarding day lunch, putting the ladle from the Alfredo sauce to her mouth to taste before putting on her pasta and then putting it back in the container...strange and gross!!!!

@San Diego GarrettI have seen this at other buffets and it is like a car crash.....I can't stop staring. I saw a guy scratch his butt, smell his fingers and continue on in the Windjammer on Mariner. My travel companion and I decided to take Jamie's Italian up on their reduced lunch offer right after that. But I manage a restaurant so things like that aren't weird to me.

We were on an early December sailing once, right after the beautiful decorations had been put up, and observed a woman walk up to the elaborate gingerbread village, and break off a piece of one of the roofs to eat.   As if we don't get fed enough on the ship.  lol  
On another cruise, we ate breakfast in the Windjammer at the same time that an older gentleman did...in his robe and slippers.  ?  We got to enjoy his eccentricity 2 separate days.
If you were on an Alaskan cruise back in May 2016, and saw a tall, skinny teenage boy eat three plates heaped full of donuts for breakfast in the Windjammer (27 by his count)....yes, we did teach him to eat a decent meal.  And no, we weren't eating with him.  He finally fessed up long after the cruise.  ?
Hmmmm.  All our strange encounters involve food. ?
 

An impatient person in the Windjammer line eating the food as he slowly strolled down the line. Most of the food never touched the plate. Just straight into his mouth.

I think that The Quest game show is a little strange for newcomers who are not familiar with this tradition.  The first time I saw the show, a drunk contestant took off his pants during a challenge, but wasn’t wearing underwear. His back was to the audience, but he didn’t conceal things well while disrobing. I’m not easily shocked, but I was surprised. I don’t recall how Royal handled that situation, but the crowd went wild. I’ve seen the show one other time, but it wasn’t nearly as crazy as that experience.

So when my brother and I went to Egypt we did a Nile river cruise on the Movenpick Royal Lotus. There was a family that had "service" animals that included a goat and German Shepard. Every morning we went on deck that goat would just be staring into our souls. We barely heard it but we also knew that both animals stayed in the families rooms. It was so random. Also on my first RCG cruise, Mariner, our neighbor would always come out of his room in a thong, do a few stretches in the hallway and go back in. I just assume there were too many people in the room.