DDaley

After seeing the first pic of the boat I was going to ask if Darryl was aboard so I am pleased you mentioned him! I am a Daryl, too. 
This first batch of NZ photos is just gorgeous. Can't wait to see more! 

17 minutes ago, newcruiser77 said:

I'm sailing on the Oasis April 5th - when do they generally open the reservations for entertainment in the cruise planner?   I think we are about 59 days to cruising!  I'm a first time cruiser and have been able to plan & purchase everything other than the onboard entertainment so far.  Thanks to everyone on this forum - have received many great tips and ideas. 

Oh no! I am on Oasis in May and was hoping they'd show at 60! Maybe 30? I will probably still keep checking daily even though I'm still at 88, hahah

On my 4 night cruise I see I can get the UDP for $96 or the 3-night dining package for $99. Am I right in assuming that the UDP is clearly a better deal as it could be used for the 4th night as well as lunches? What am I missing here? What fun pricing, RC! 

On 1/25/2020 at 4:44 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

I'll do some of the same with breaks to find the chickens and iguanas (I believe we are now on a first-name basis).

Heard a relevant iguana joke on my recent cruise in Mexico - they're all named Mary! Mary Iguana. 

97 days  till 

Oasis May 3, 2020

and 364  till 

Navigator Jan 25, 2021

I brought my own towels and loved being able to easily spot my pool chair among the sea of blue RC ones. Also, they fold up super small for bringing off the ship, the RC ones are way bulkier and take up way more room in your beach bag. We used these on 2 cruises so far and they dont get smelly or stiff even after 7 straight days of usage. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DJ1CXWN/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=AOE12EV6AFWFE&th=1

14 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Yes, I saw this feature back in 2018 when I was getting ready for my first cruise ever. Not only good for the things you listed, but also for entering third-party excursion bookings you've made, so you can be sure not to accidentally double-book something.

Yes! I did this in August since we had four 3rd party excursions to keep track of. I still somehow forgot to bring a printed receipt with me in St. Kitts but because I knew I owed the guy exactly $161.80 he figured he could trust it was me. 

I can only speak for the second leg of your B2B but most of those islands were very easy to get around without an excursion. We taxied to the beach in St Thomas (Magen's), St Kitts (Cockleshell), Antigua (Dickinson Bay) and Barbados (Brandon's Beach) very easily. 

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! 

22 hours ago, chill6x6 said:

Wouldn't mind a private excursion to the rain forest.  Suggestions?

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. 

21 hours ago, ashonthesea said:

Testing out the zoom on my camera to get a photo of this dog in shorts.

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. 

1 hour ago, spursfreak21 said:

Is there an easy way to find out how many ships will be visiting on a particular day?

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!) 

19 hours ago, Rachelle said:

@DDaley I’m intrigued by this Painkiller you speak of! Any idea which bar would most likely know the drink?

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.  

On 12/5/2019 at 11:04 AM, Lovestotravel said:

We are on FOS next May. and on the "other site" there are some pretty harsh reviews, mostly centered around how there are so many "rude" Puerto Rican's on board, and "too much Spanish".

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. 

On 11/24/2019 at 3:02 PM, kimberussell said:

I blend.

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 

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

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!!