DDaley

Wow! If I got to have an MDR meal in under 45min I would be so pleased! We skipped it a couple nights because sitting 2.5 hours for dinner is ridiculous.

I traveled recently with two birthdays (there were only the two of us) during our cruise and after mentioning it to both the restaurant manager on night one and our waiter on both the nights-of, we didn't end up getting anything special. Just a fair warning that it's not universal to get a dinner birthday dessert! I hope you do, though!

Can't offer a tour suggestion but we did El Yunque on our own and it was super easy with a rental car! We got an uber to the airport for the car, about $80 for the day, and drove to the rainforest.. took about 45 minutes from the airport. It was great! There are a ton of things to see and hikes just off the main road, plenty of parking lots along the way for each attraction. La Coca Falls was beautiful! As for St Thomas, I gotta say Magen's Bay for the beach stop at the end of your tour! Restaurant with beach service, umbrellas and loungers for rent. $5 entrance fee but it's as perfect as everyone says.

Why, yes, I did zoom in on the full shot to Where's-Waldo the shorts dog. He was having a well deserved rest from all that crowd pleasing!

Grease has that huge unwed teen pregnancy theme, aside from the main character changing herself into a scantily-clad POA to land a man. You'd think that would be just as offensive to these "family-minded" people as husband killers. ? Let's get some Sondheim up in here, RCCL!

We took an RC excursion that circumnavigated the island and stopped at a beach on the east side for lunch and snorkeling, it was great! I think the excursion was called Antigua by Sea. We picked up additional passengers in Dickenson Bay and it was just gorgeous. A taxi straight there from the port runs around $15.

I am just off HAL Oosterdam and they only gave out Open Water brand aluminum can "bottled" water with the drink package. I really liked that because on Freedom this summer I felt terrible about the number of plastic bottles we went through (I had my reusable Hydroflask for in-cabin water but forgot to bring it out around the ship with me). I guess it's not yet fleet-wide if NCL is claiming they're first.

I use cruisemapper.com although I am sure there are other ways. https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/coco-cay-port-392 Then find the Schedule tab and change the month to the date of your sailing.

This doesn't pertain specifically to long trips but something that I am always forgetting and wishing I had remembered to pack is a pair of binoculars! On the ship, mid-Atlantic, they won't be of use but once you get where you're going I almost always see something in the distance from my hotel window I wish I could see a little closer. Another thought I had was to make sure you have an outing backpack that is smaller than your carry on for schleppin' a small umbrella and packable rain coats with you wherever you venture out to. When I last travelled through Ireland the rain was always hitting at strange times and I was happy to be geared up (that was July, not August, but I assume the wet weather will be similar).

Another thank you for the great blog, @WAAAYTOOO! Your writing style is so, so funny.

I saw this Cats history this morning and it made me think of your hilarious blog! I think we can all consider ourselves lucky that RC presents a shortened version as I have left at intermission of the full length production before. (see also: Show Boat, woof!)

I ordered it everywhere I went! Definitely available poolside.

I have used this brand for years! Even my olllld ones don't leak although I usually buy fresh ones every few years as the plastic starts to get cloudy. Loksak Waterproof Airtight Resealable Bags For into-the-ocean portability I put it in one of these waist bags.

I love Painkillers! It's like a piña colada on the rocks with nutmeg. But usually I order vodka + water + a splash of fruit juice (pineapple, guava, etc) because the water helps prevent hangovers from all that sugar.

Wow! I barely noticed the Spanish announcements when we sailed in August. Are people really stopping what they're doing to listen, realize oh this is the "yucky Spanish part" of the announcement, and then becoming upset about having to listen to it? Just continue about your day! I highly doubt the Spanish-speaking-only Puerto Ricans on board are upset about first sitting through the long English portions. The only rude people I encountered on board were accompanied, yet undisciplined children cartwheeling several times through our mini golf game. ? @NJCruisers Great review! I am hoping to do the ABC route (we did the Barbados one) in 2021if the SJ port allows.

Every time you've mentioned blending in I think of that line of Marisa Tomei's from My Cousin Vinny "Oh, yeah, you blend." hahaha

As someone who spends a tonnn of time on the balcony I would be so sad with this cabin placement for a GS. Hello sir! Please enjoy me sitting out here in my bathing suit for hours each day. hahaha Hope you guys have a great cruise (followed by another)! Your picture inclusion is going great so far!!

I made it in Adobe Illustrator! We're sailing another line in 19 days, this reminds me I gotta make a Christmas version.

I designed/printed this one for our birthdays on Freedom this August and no one messed with it! I think the more custom the magnets are to you, the less someone else will want to steal it for their door. Much harder to say "oh IIIII bought this at the dollar store" about something that says a name or date on it.

Oh good I am glad you asked, this was driving me crazy. They stop at April 2021 but shouldn't summer 2021 be included in this batch through 2022? I was thinking "oh maybe they don't go to the ABCs in summer."

Oh no! I just checked and I am in port with Panorama... they wouldn't just leave you stranded on board, right? Are the Cabo tenders in addition to the ship's own?

I love this thread! I was a lurker until I had a question I couldn't already find an answer to and never looked back. I am at 31 days til HAL (oops) to the Mexican Riviera 172 days till my first OA class, lovely amped Oasis and a whopping 439 days till Navigator with a double dip to Coco Cay where I will be going slide crazy! Having those two future RC cruises pleases me because I am finally back on watch-it-like-a-hawk cruise planner duty, HAL's Already Booked interface is trash! Hoping for Black Friday sales to book some drink packagessss!!! WOOooo

We walked right on Freedom with a Cannabis vape in our carryon and no one seemed to notice or care. That was from San Juan, possibly they're just as lax down under? Yours isn't even illegal and you're of age! I doubt you'll be stopped.

Add me to the list of people spending money after a Twangster live blog. The canal is now at the top of my future-cruise-scheduling list! Watching the locks looks so fun and interesting. Thank you!

In Maui, I always sail on a Trilogy tour to Lanai. Fun catamaran ride for your boys, plus the benefit of seeing an additional Hawaiian island on your trip. Once the catamaran arrives in Lanai at a private marine park, you are switched to a bus for a historical tour through the main town and pineapple fields BUT you'd also have the option of just staying at the boat launch as there is a beach/park/picnic area there that the bus returns to for lunch before the sail back to Maui. They offer snorkeling, beach volleyball, etc at the beach park. The lunch was fantastic, too!