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DJsMrs

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  1. Haha
    DJsMrs got a reaction from Okgladgal in How do you go with the flow?   
    Worrying about it won't change it.   Maybe go with a lava flow if it all falls apart - then you'll care less 🙂🤪
  2. Love
    DJsMrs reacted to Kata in Man overboard on Symphony of the seas   
    Person was found and in medical facilitie🙏
  3. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Lovetocruise2002 in This is interesting...   
    Truthfully, I am GenX and the more I read about Icon, the more interest I am losing in sailing her. I might change my mind after the inaugural (if I don't cancel), but I am not holding my breath.
    There might be too much going on on that ship for even someone like me who prefers the larger ships. I am still annoyed by the lack of options for families who want two bathrooms and not two rooms. 
  4. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to FloatyBoaty in Wow! My excursion left 6 people behind   
    Exactly. And by the end of the excursion day everyone that has returned to the bus on time is exchanging roll-eye glances because we all are realizing that it's the same group of people late to get back yet again. 
  5. Wow
    DJsMrs reacted to steverk in Wow! My excursion left 6 people behind   
    I've never seen this happen before. Have any of you?
    We're in St. Johns Newfoundland with a 3:30 all aboard time. My Royal Caribbean shore excursion stopped at the Rooms Museum and we were allowed just under an hour to self explore. The guide told us to be back on the bus at 2:45 or 2:50.
    I was back at 2:45. At 2:46, the guide noted that at least 6 people were missing.  He said, they can catch an uber, walk or just miss the boat. And then he instructed the driver to leave!
    When we mentioned this wasn't cool he said they need to understand the importance of schedule. 
    I've never seen anything like this before. Have you?
  6. Love
    DJsMrs reacted to HeWhoWaits in Traveling with 9.5 month old   
    This factor makes it very easy to go to Windjammer without extra help at breakfast.
  7. Love
    DJsMrs got a reaction from RCIfan1912 in Traveling with 9.5 month old   
    My son's first cruise was when he was 9 months old... I was a hot mess stressing out about everything.   We packed a banker's box with baby snacks (mumums, jarred baby food and formula) and that worked well.
    Umbrella stroller is everything - you won't have room for a big one in your stateroom.
    If you're stopping in San Juan, there's a Walgreens at the port if you run out of anything.
    A towel on the patio floor made for a great play area for him while we sat outside with him
    We borrowed toys on board - but that might have been princess... 
    Swim diapers - if they're allowed in the splash pool, I genuinely don't remember the rules, but I'm sure someone will.
    Have a plan for nap times - we would take turns, or watch a movie/read/nap on the balcony... same with evenings.   We didn't fight the hours - my husband was the gatherer... would go get snacks and drinks and we enjoyed every minute of our evenings on balcony.
    Staff will go crazy for your little one...  we could barely get him back when our meals were done - at first I struggled (nervous first-time mum), but most are missing family at home and are so happy to have a munchkin on board they love holding the littles and showing them off to other crew 🙂
    We had a blast - it was definitely a different cruise than we have now that the boys are older, but I'm so glad we travelled with our kids when they were little - I hope you have SO much fun!   Take videos - pictures are good, but you'll be thankful for quick little clips in ten years 🙂 
  8. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Lovetocruise2002 in From Canada…to Canada: Discovering Liberty, Eh? – LB 08/24/23 – 09/02/23   
    We are now on board, and our luggage is also on board! Thank you all for coming along with us again. 🙂

  9. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Lovetocruise2002 in From Canada…to Canada: Discovering Liberty, Eh? – LB 08/24/23 – 09/02/23   
    Some final thoughts…Itinerary 
    All 4 of us loved this itinerary!! Completely loved it! Not one single complaint other than we wished we had longer at certain locations. 
    We all had different favourite ports this sailing for different reasons. My favourite was Boston, followed closely by Bar Harbor, Portland, Saint John, and then Halifax. My top “Wow! I am speechless” port was probably at the sea caves in St Martins. My favourite eating port was probably a toss up between Boston and Portland. 
    Hubby really loved Bar Harbor. That was his favourite. And he and the girls really loved Peggy’s Cove. D17 is a city girl like me, so one of her favourites was also Boston. D15 being a nature girl, loved Cadillac Mountain, the sea caves, and yesterday at Peggy’s cove. 
    I would 100% do this itinerary again. And I would 100% do it again on a non-Oasis/QN class ship. Reason being that because it is so port intensive, and you are literally out all day in port, the evenings you just want to chill. I would have not liked to have to dress up for dinner, and catch some show at the theatre, Aqua Theater, or whatever each evening.
    This sailing just reaffirms our decision to do the Western Med on Voyager next year instead of Oasis. The small ships have less entertainment, but for port intensive itineraries, I like that. It takes away the pressure to have to do something, or feel like you are missing something. Most nights all 4 of us just had dinner and came back to the room to relax and process the day. It was different than our usual cruising routine, but perfect for the type of sailing that this was. 
  10. Wow
    DJsMrs reacted to Lovetocruise2002 in From Canada…to Canada: Discovering Liberty, Eh? – LB 08/24/23 – 09/02/23   
    It seems strange that we are spending so much money eating in ports. We never eat in ports usually. 
    I know 😉😂

     
    You’re welcome! Let me know if you have any other questions that I did not answer already. 🙂
    We are enjoying this cruise a lot! It’s been a lot of laughs and bickering, classic family good times. But this is very different from our usual Caribbean cruises and I think we all find that difference a bit more refreshing. Also, we knew what we were getting into so we set our expectations accordingly. 
    Hubby is getting better. Practice makes perfect. He has his blue band now the last few cruises so he enjoys that a lot more. It’s more quiet when you can go to the stand up sessions. 
     
    Omg! Something really bad happened tonight. I am going to tell you guys something and hopefully you all don’t think less of me. My family was mortified 😂
    The suite snob was good. She stayed in the closet while I ate my dinner, made polite conversation with everyone, had two glasses of wine, and then at the very end, one of head waiters came around to check on us. We told him all was good and that our servers were awesome, which they are. Then he asked about the food. 3 of us said everything was great. I could not lie.
    He asked me and I told him that everything is fine, and the service is fantastic. Then he said he is aiming for 10/10 on food and service. Well…I was at this point smiling and nodding. But he kept pressing asking me what I thought about the food. I could not keep the suite snob in the closet.
    I went on a long rant/vent, while smiling the whole time, about how we have been sailing since 2002 and the MDR is not as it used to be. Told him how their cost cutting has lead to everything being just mid and no “wow” factor with any of the dishes. I tried hard to reassure him that it does not reflect on their dining room whatsoever, that I understand completely this is a corporate problem, and the “problem” is way bigger than he can fix.
    Then he called the executive chef on his phone to come speak to us because he said he felt like the chef needed to hear this feedback as well. At this point the kids were so embarrassed they made an excuse to leave. I felt terrible too, but at the same time, I think all the frustration from the changes over the last few years just came out, and I might have lost my filter a bit after two glasses of wine and the martini I had in the suite lounge.
    Anyway, in the end, they said they want to hear this type of feedback, because like what else are they going to say? And I told him, in the end, I know there is not much they can do because the problem starts with Mr. Liberty and corporate. And then he asked for my cabin number. Omg 🤦🏻‍♀️ sorry 😬
  11. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Lovetocruise2002 in From Canada…to Canada: Discovering Liberty, Eh? – LB 08/24/23 – 09/02/23   
    They basically gave us one hour to eat and explore the caves. Not much time so we rushed D15 to eat quickly and then we took as many photos as we could. Let me tell you, photos and videos do not do this place justice. It’s just beautiful there. I could have put up a lawn chair and sat there for hours just staring. I tried to soak it up the best I could in a small amount of time. Video clips on IG. 
     





  12. Haha
  13. Haha
    DJsMrs reacted to smokeybandit in Nuclear powered cruise ships being explored   
    Can't wait for those ship names though.
     
    Fallout of the Seas
    Radiation of the Seas
     
  14. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Jacklynn in Leaving the kids behind! Allure July 2nd-9th, 2023   
    Day 4 - Roatan

    We started the day with coffee (shocker 🤣) and watching us pull into the Roatan port.

    We were able to walk right off the shop around 8:50 even though they had said 9:30. There was the expected chaos as we exited the secured port and found the Daniel Johnson people. It was very easy but I can see how it could cause a bit of anxiety in people as there were people hollering everywhere about taxis and excursions and it was packed. You can see here that the road was lined with venders as we drove away.

    They got us checked in an introduced us to our driver for the day. I can't remember her name but it was something like Shantia 🤔 she was awesome!


    This was at the end when she dropped us off at the port, I was looking rather rough after snorkeling 🤣🤣

    I was so nervous it would be awkward. That there would be weird silences, and when that happens my husband talks a lot because he hates awkward silence 🤣 thankfully it was very easy conversation. Any time we weren't asking questions she was talking all about her life on the island.

    She drove us by the Roatan sign, showed us some local schools and talked about them, pointed out her house, we learned all about her family and the relationship and often disconnect with the mainland. It was so good! We definitely felt like we saw the Honduran island instead of just some gimmicky tourist version. Lots of rugged dirt roads but we even enjoyed that.


    Half way through our tour we stopped at the Daniel Johnson Hangout for some time with the sloths and monkeys and then snorkeling.


    We were placed with a group of about 12 with 8ish of them being one family. We didn't really think anything of us, they were fine, but as soon as we finished with the sloths a man asked if it was just the two of us and when we said yes he said to follow him to one of the monkey cages. He introduced himself as Daniel Johnson and said he noticed we were with a large group and since it was just the two of us wanted to give us a smaller experience. Here he is chatting with us.

    It was great! He spent about 10 minutes with us with a mama and baby monkey. He told us all about how his sanctuary came to be. He grew up in the house where the sanctuary is. He was very nice and it felt like a treat getting to hang out with him.



    I was surprised at how incredibly clean the whole place was. The animals themselves were also incredibly clean.
    Afterwards he took us and a few others out snorkeling. The snorkeling was fine, but we definitely saw more fish in Hawaii. But the water was clear and nice. I was a bone head and forgot to sunscreen my back and the back of my legs 😂 so I'm white from the front and red from the back lol


    We went to the beach area for a little bit and had a beer that Daniel suggested and afterwards our guide met us at Daniel Johnson.  She was able to drop us off right at the ship once we flashed security our sea passes.

  15. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Jacklynn in Leaving the kids behind! Allure July 2nd-9th, 2023   
    Day 3 Sea Day afternoon/evening

    I bought cheap star necklaces from the dollar store to wear on the 4th of July and apparently they don't mix well with sunscreen and sweat 🙃 I had stars on my legs from them sitting on my lap,  oops.


    We sat there for a few hours enjoying a drink and the view.


    We wanted to try lunch in the dining room so we went to check that out. It was oddly very slow and they mixed up the orders of almost everyone around us including Matt's. He isn't fussy though and just ate what they brought him 🙂 he got the chicken sandwhich (he had ordered the chicken and waffles) and I got the seafood sandwhich. I only ate a small bit, it was just okay. No big deal as we clearly aren't going hungry aboard.


    On a whim we went to the love and marriage show thinking we could sneak out if it was lame, but it was hilarious 😂 the host did a great job and the couples of course made it fun. With being married 16 years we were eligible to try to participate (the "mid-ly wed" option was for 20-30 years) but I dk if we would be fun enough anyways ha! But it was great to watch. The couple married the longest had been married 65 years ♥️


    After that we grabbed some grub from Wipeout Cafe and enjoyed the view from up there. Not that we needed any more food...


    Took a few laps on deck 5 and ended up on the aft before getting ready for dinner.

    They had a special menu for the 4th of July. We split the Buffalo chicken dip and I got the baked potato soup and Matt got shrimp cocktail for apps the dip was good but my soup was delicious! Usually potato soup can be good or really bland but thankfully it had lots of flavor. In fact I told Matt I could have had a dinner bowl of it and been happy.




    I got the salmon dish and Matt got the honey fried chicken. My salmon was fantastic. So far between the soup and salmon, it was my favorite meal. I forgot a picture but Matt said his chicken was fine.


    For dessert I got the strawberry shortcake and Matt got the brownie. He really liked his brownie. Mine was fine, I'm just not a fan of super sweet light cake/whipped topping. So I could only handle a few bites. Just personal tastes, my mom loves those kinds of desserts though so she would have loved it.


    We finished the night walking around a bit and saw a few minutes of the aqua show again.


  16. Love
    DJsMrs reacted to ginway1010 in Anniversary Chips at Friends of Bill Meetings?   
    Hi all,
    I'm going to be celebrating 11 months of recovery time while on The Wonder of the Seas on 7/20.  I know the meetings are self-led but does anyone know if the ships provide chips for the meeting for those that are celebrating anniversaries?
  17. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Jacklynn in Leaving the kids behind! Allure July 2nd-9th, 2023   
    We are currently sitting at the aft on deck 5 and just ran a speed test for you. We are sailing along Mexico currently on our way to Roatan if that matters. 

    Maybe only 1 or 2 other people running today when we started at 5:20 but by the end there were more. Not so many that it posed any issues though. 
  18. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Cactus527 in Happy Sailing to all July 2023 Cruisers!   
    Yay, we're sailing together!!!!!
  19. Like
    DJsMrs got a reaction from Cactus527 in Happy Sailing to all July 2023 Cruisers!   
    July 16 Allure!!!!
  20. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Jacklynn in Leaving the kids behind! Allure July 2nd-9th, 2023   
    Day 3: Sea Day

    We woke up at 5 to run, only 2 miles today. Don't worry we won't wake up every morning to run 🙂 We run 3 to 5 miles 4 or 5 times a week at home so it's enjoyable to us. I think we will run on our Costa Maya day and then our last Sea Day, but not tomorrow at Roatan or Cozumel.

    Climbed the stairs to the 16th deck thinking we'd find coffee in the windjammer and watch the dark turn to day only to realize the windjammer opens at 7 not at 6. You'd think they would at least place a few carafes of coffee up there for those watching the sunrise. We survived without the coffee though.


    Ran down to shower before getting breakfast (and coffee!) At the windjammer and now just enjoying watching the sea. No real plans for today, so we shall see where the day leads us.


  21. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Jacklynn in Leaving the kids behind! Allure July 2nd-9th, 2023   
    I figured out how to put my pictures throughout the text, I'm rather impressed with myself 😂 

    Day one: Sea Day

    I set my alarm for 5:30 and ran down to the promenade for coffee before getting a sweaty 3 miles in on the track. It's funny how no matter which side of the ship I was on, the wind was never at my back 😂


    Matt had a few final things to do for work before he could fully sign off so he finished that while I showered.

    We headed to the solarium for breakfast which was almost empty it seemed. We kept it pretty light knowing we had our sushi class at 10.

    We walked a bit and hid a few ducks before going to the sushi class.

    We really enjoyed the class. Those leading the class were both informative and entertaining. The pacing felt perfect. I was shocked by the amount of people who barely touched the sushi they made. Some people clearly didn't eat any at all. Not us, we polished off most of our plates 🤣 but we felt like pigs because tons of people seriously barely touched theirs. I'm glad we were able to snag a spot because it had been sold out and I just happened to grab a reservation a few weeks ago when someone canceled.





    We found this fun post it picture in one of the cabin halls. I think a guest put it up but I'm not 100 certain if it was that or staff. There were no names. 


    We walked a few laps on deck 5 and Matt went for a nap while I grabbed a coffee frappuccino and coconut Ranger cookie (I saw someone say they only found them on embarkation day but they had them in cafe promenade) and went to the "secret" 9th floor central park balcony and that's where I wrote my boarding day post.



    We had 5:30 ice skating reservations and then it was time to get ready for formal night. We had the aqua show at 9 so we were glad they had the dinner doors open at 7:30 so we'd have plenty of time to eat before the show.



    We had calamari and French onion soup, beef tenderloin and Matt had the apple dessert and I had the cappuccino cake.


    When they brought out my cake they had a candle and sang happy anniversary to us. It was both nice and embarrassing 🥳😂


    We went straight from dinner to get seats at the aqua theater. The show was impressive! I can definitely understand why they have to cancel in rough seas. You could tell how important it is for them to hit their marks. The amount of coordination in the production including the behind the scenes stuff is crazy.


    Followed the show by a walk through central park before calling it a night around 10:30. Party animals I know! But we are definitely morning people. We are both children and old people trapped in mid to late 30 year old bodies lol

  22. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Jacklynn in Leaving the kids behind! Allure July 2nd-9th, 2023   
    The hot tub was getting a bit too hot so as soon as we hit open waters we headed down for showers and rest a bit before dinner (late seating which is 7:45). It seems there might be a theme here with us taking cat naps 😂 Apparently without the kids we are quite the party animals. Honestly I think it just feels good to lay down for a moment without someone needing something lol
    For the most part though Matt napped while I was able to take my time getting ready for dinner. 
    We had about an hour until dinner so we walked around the shops, grabbed a pre-dinner drink (delicious Blueberry Nojito) and sat on the chairs on deck 5 aft until dinner. I had high hopes of grabbing an ornament since they had just opened. She said they sold out last sailing. Seems odd that they had just sold out on our last sailing too. I don't understand why they can't seem to have them always available. They always have those big ship models. And while we are at it, why not an online store so that when they ARE in stock we can order them??
    Dinner was fine. We had a table for 2 which we had hoped for/requested. The pro is no one is on either side of us which takes away from the whole table for 2 aspect. But we are right where everyone has to walk by to get to their table lol so it was a steady stream of people at first.
    Our server is Maria. It's funny because we had just talked about how we haven't really seen many females being head servers. She's sweet. Her assistant introduced himself but then we didn't see him again, but it didn't bother us.
    We both started with a crab cake and split the spinach and artichoke dip. The crab cakes were delicious. In fact we both agreed they were the best part of the meal. I had seen pictures of the spinach dip being very soupy, but ours was thick. It was fine, not much flavor. 
    Matt got the fried chicken and enjoyed it, especially the honey sauce. I got the portobello dish and it was tasty
    I finished with the key lime pie but only had a few bites, it had a bit of an artificial taste to me. Matt had chocolate ice cream 😂
    After dinner we walked around Central Park and the cadino until our 10:15 Blades show. 
    We have almost no casino experience and so we are a bit clueless. Thankfully the host showed us how to use our accounts on the machine lol
    We each had $4 free play. We laughed at Matt's 30 cent payout, and then at my 6 cent payout haha! 
    The Blades show was fantastic in our opinion. It was much better that the show we saw on Independence. We felt the talent was better and enjoyed the story line. Blades has replaced the Ice Games show.
     








  23. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Cactus527 in Happy Sailing to all July 2023 Cruisers!   
    July 16th Allure!
  24. Like
    DJsMrs got a reaction from Neesa in Happy Sailing to all July 2023 Cruisers!   
    July 16 Allure!!!!
  25. Like
    DJsMrs reacted to Jacklynn in Leaving the kids behind! Allure July 2nd-9th, 2023   
    Our early morning went well. Left for the airport around 2:30, snagged a parking spot around 4am and was at our gate an hour before our boarding time. Thankfully we took off right on schedule at 6:10.

    The flight was very bumpy as I don't think the pilot even tried to go around the storms 😂

    Oh my word, people were coughing and sneezing like crazy at our gate. I definitely made note of who to not sit next to on the plane lol

    Spent the day driving around Galveston before finding a cute place for dinner near our Airbnb called Lil Buffalo. We split the fries and I had shrimp while Matt had a burger. We are still pretty full 😂 I guess we were trying to stretch our stomachs for the cruise. Now just relaxing at our place for the night.

    We have an 11:00 boarding time. We first need to drop off our rental car then grab a lyft to the port. Can't wait to board!



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