DDaley

Great idea! I love my split-sole Bloch dance sneakers, could definitely weather some spilled drinks and roughly textured, anti-slip deck surfaces!

As someone who also blogs from their phone, let me suggest you write entries in a Notes app and then copy and paste them into the browser when you’re ready to post. I have lost sooo many entries that I then had to hastily rewrite due to the browser failing/reloading itself with shipboard wifi. These posts have an autosave feature but I swear it only saves stuff I’ve already posted and never when I needed it to!

Oooh loved Celestyal, which ship are you sailing? From Athens or Lavrion? Here is a DBP calculator link, scroll down to find Royal: https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/cruise-drinks-package-calculator/ There was another one made by a blog user that was only RC but I can’t find that one.

Driver in Rome looks awesome! Italy is on my cruise list (after the Rhine this summer and Japan next summer!) but I am writing it down for future use. I’m also so happy to hear RC will arrange for up close seating at shows for you! Cats only gets bad reviews because Andrew Lloyd Webber was on a straight acid trip when he compiled that heap of trash! The actors are always great and the dancing/set/costumes are amazing too, but that show is absolutely ridiculous. The only song anyone knows is Memory and to me it’s the most boring part of the whole thing (but then again, I hate ballads).

Random mid-march, post-St Patricks sale started today and somehow the DBP for my Nav cruise in May has dropped lower than ever before! It used to alternate between $81.99 (non sale) and $76.99 (sale) but today it dropped to $72.99! Worth a glance! That’s even cheaper than what I paid for the DBP on this same ship and itinerary in Oct 2022, who woulda thunk?

I’ve been to NOLA every few years since 2012 and always stay in the quarter at the Hotel Monteleone (family tradition passed down from my parents). It’s a gorgeous, historical hotel and is home to the famous carousel bar! The quarter during daylight hours is just as grimy as it’s always been but I tend to do my sightseeing by day so we only do the rounds after dinner for entertainment purposes. Frenchmen St is the best for live music! If you’re gonna traipse out to a plantation, make sure it’s Whitney, as it’s the only former plantation site in Louisiana that is presented from the perspective of the enslaved people, not the slave owners. May I also suggest the 1850 House Museum off of Jackson Square. I think it’s only $5 admission but the house remains set up as it would’ve been in 1850! Super cool.

If the forecast is looking like rain, I would also suggest a pair of waterproof pants! It rained alllll day on us in ISP and half the day in Juneau and I was very happy to have the water beading off my legs instead of soaking in to my pants as we strolled around. I did bring hiking boots (which were perfect in the rain) but if you’re not planning on doing anything too adventurous on excursions, you’d probably get by with tennis shoes. Aside from that I would say just tons of layers in varying weights. If it was a sunny day it was nice to peel off layers, on the rainy days it kept the rain from soaking through (yes my REI raincoat ceases to be waterproof after 8 hours). I packed an additional poncho but left it in the cabin, oops. I wore three(!) kinds of hats - baseball, full brim and beanies when it was chilly. We went in September so the beanie probably wouldn’t be necessary mid summer. I also enjoyed having a pair of binoculars on our balcony!

Crazy! @twangster just did a lovely post today showing current Labadee photos and how nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Lollll I too bring binoculars on every vacation I’ve been on since childhood. The only time I didn’t need them was when I stayed with my 2 college friends in a presidential suite at the Fairmont San Francisco.... because the room comes equipped with its own telescope! hahaha We played Eye Spy for houuuurs. I’d be using them to keep an eye on the aggressive seagulls near that Snack Shack! The amount of people I saw preyed upon when they left food to go back for seconds was hilarious. I saw a seagull take off with an entire soft taco/burrito half-lodged in its throat!

Thank you for asking because I have no idea which suite that is! All I know is it’s not an ATS hahaha

Seconding the view from Desert Watchtower! @PPPJJ-GCVAB If you’re in the area a few days I also recommend a tour in Antelope Canyon (suuuuper cool slot canyon) near Page, AZ. We took a calm rafting tour down the Colorado from Page when we visited the Grand Canyon and got to go around Horseshoe Bend from the water’s vantage! The slot canyon was an easy add-on to our day. Sorry to hijack the blog @Cactus527, got to help promote lovely Arizona!!

This is the same Noodle Shop/Spashaway menu we had on our Quantum cruise last September so I have to assume it’s staying! cc @Ampurp85

Love these choices! I always try to buy art as my souvenirs. Usually I can only afford prints but a couple places I have been able to get originals. We’re going to Amsterdam, Germany, France and Switzerland this summer and I’m hoping to add 2-4 A3’s to my staircase travel art collection!

Yes, I have been looking at other lines because I want to sail from Tokyo and not just port there! Do you know what ship it may be??

Please plan to go back to Discovery Cove in 2028 so both Johnny AND Lydia can give you their best teenage-no-more-pictures-please faces!!

Love seeing Livi having a good time!! My first ever cruise was on Sovereign of the Seas out of Miami in summer 1997, I went with my best friend’s family as their grandmother was a huge cruiser and paid for everyone to join her. Not only was I away from my family, but I was all the way across the country (BFF from Massachusetts, but we were living in San Diego) at 11! I remember absolutely loving it and her family and I still have inside jokes from that cruise. Best of which is a little ditty we made up about Jacques Cousteau spending all his time on the Cal-yp-so!

Brilliance is my favorite ship to date! I keep thinking about booking a Pacific coastal cruise just to sail one again (but without a cross country flight). I’ve always wondered, if you got a casino comp do they hold you to gambling while on the comped cruise? Or do they just assume you can’t resist?

Hooray! Thanks for doing a recap for us. I am booked on a Norwegian sailing in 2025 that goes to Aruba/Bonaire/Curaçao and will be happy to read about your port adventures!

Duhhhh, but my traveling companions want to go for dinner, and I want a sandwich! Not that crazy. If I’m willing to pay $43.99 for a chicken sandwich, that’s my prerogative. lol

Hahahaha that is amazing!! I have seen some whacky driving-backwards stuff on Mighty Cruise Ships but that would be a crazy maneuver to see! I’m thinking we need at least another story on our warehouse and definitely a parking structure, then we might be in business!

Aside from shoreside, I don’t think an Oasis class ship could turn around once it got up the main channel to San Pedro. In San Pedro, the turning basin for a ship of OA size looks on the other side of the Vincent Thomas Bridge which only has a clearance of 184 feet. Verrazano Bridge, which we know Oasis just barely squeaks under is 228’. Maaaaybe OA could pull in bow first towards the cruise center and do a 3-point turn to pull alongside the pier (NAV docks next to the USS Iowa) but I have a feeling part of the aft would still need to tuck under the bridge.

They weren’t talking about your post, they were saying the testimonial on the link the OP posted says how great it worked for them planning their cruise. The site is non-functional as of now, so how could that testimonial be true?

Has anyone had any success ordering lunch items at dinner from any of the specialty restaurants? Specifically, getting a burger at Chops or the chicken sandwich from Jamie’s for dinner? I am a cheap date and love my sandwiches!

It was in my suggestion too! I even got to use it in Alaska when we kayaked Mendenhall Lake.

Best cruise essential is an insulated cup for bringing your DBP on land. We hit several bars on our way to and from breakfast and fill our cups with about 4-5 cocktails each that we can enjoy once we’re off the ship. Bartenders tend to love pouring us shots that early too, so you can top off with a little extra! We pack these in our camelpak backpacks so we have plenty of water to go with! Aside from drink-related merchandise, I love my towel clips, Swimways spring float, magnetic hooks and always having a foldable, mesh beach bag and dry sack.