DDaley

3 Days to go! Cruise planner closes tonight so I have been stalking the dining and beverage just in case anything drops more than I’ve seen previously. Currently nothing that I am jumping on, Izumi is $2pp less than I paid but I figure cancelling and rescheduling and possibly losing my ideal 7pm dinner slot is worth the $4. There is a funny item on both this cruise and my May 2025 on Freedom that makes no sense at all, $116.99 for the Chops+1 with a fancy new name. On both sailings, Chops is the most expensive speciality at $52.99 for dinner.. so even if I wanted TWO nights at Chops, I could buy the two Chops reservations a la carte for $105!

Ahahaha I was THIIIINKING Gang but we’re clearly more of a Bezos Camaraderie Group.

Gathering has started, can’t exactly call it Packing until I actually oPEN the suitcase, currently it’s sitting in it’s dust/storage bag near the items I have been collecting from throughout the house. Sadly there will be no beaching this trip so my Swimways floats, beach tent, bag and sheet all have to stay home. Much to the amusement of the over packers of RCB.com, I will be bringing the EXACT same amount of luggage that I brought for 17 days in Greece, 8 in Alaska and soon-to-be 13 days in Europe. One soft sided Away carry on and one Lo & Sons Catalina tote bag is all I require!! Of course on a lil bebe 3N sailing, quite a bit of it will be vacant room and I can probably forgo a few packing cubes. This summer the same luggage will be packed to the gills with nary a spot for all the Christmas ornaments I am planning on buying (Luckily we fly home in Polaris on United -AHHHHH- so I know they’ll let me on with an extra shopping bag or two). Thinking I will bring my camelpak for our zipline excursion which takes up nearly half the suitcase, as will our insulated tumblers for shoreside DBP usage. Additional Bezos items on their way - new phone lanyard since mine was tearing, travel size containers for my sunscreen and lotions and a CUP CLIP!! HEYOOOOooo CCG4L

Yessss, I love the Lime and Coconut so much! Freedom and Navigator are my faves for this reason. The escape room DOES exist and looks ultra fancy on this ship although I did not book it. Look at this amazing pic from the cruise planner! Haha, nooo worries at all! I love a good hijacking. Now I really wanna see @SweetPea ’s Photoshoppery!!

It's a perfect size!! The only thing I miss is a full size Sorrento’s. But the Bamboo Room is the coolest so it’s a fair trade. Would a west coast PDCC be so much to ask for?

Oh yes, slippers are alllllways on my packing list for land-based vacations (especially Mammoth every February!) but I’ve never seemed to fit them in my cruise luggage. THAT ALL CHANGES with the acquisition of RCCL branded slips!!! hahaha

Nooooo we’re here for literally any commentary! The Tales of SweetPea and Batman are the best!

Oooh oh yeah, another go on Wonder!! Can’t wait to read. I had just remembered you expounding the virtues of the snippet posting and thought it sounded much easier for sure! Thank you!

My cruise countdown is finally at 7 days! We’ve been in dry dock since September and these 8 months without a sailing have dragged on and on. Itinerary This mini 3-night sailing only stops in Ensenada, BC, Mexico. I’m still trying to book the 4N so I can get back to Catalina but a full week of vacation vs. 2 days is usually the dealbreaker, especially with a big Europe trip sucking up vacay days later this summer. I’ve been on a 2-cruises-a-year kick since the pandemic and this one will get me there (assuming a river cruise “counts” - oh wait, I’m the one making the rules)!! Day 1 - Friday - Departs Los Angeles Day 2 - Saturday - Cruising Day 3 - Sunday - Ensenada, BC, Mexico Day 4 - Monday - Returns to Los Angeles Who’s Going My BFF (Meredith) and I (Daryl). This is the first time I am sailing with anyone other than my husband! Meredith (aka Squirrel - we used to say Hey Girl, which transitioned to Gwirl and finally Squirrel) moved away to Oregon a few years ago so I gifted us this cruise to be able to hang out while also experiencing my favorite pastime. Cabin JS 1294. This was a suite guarantee that was sooo much cheaper than picking my own JS. I am usually pretty picky about our location so have never booked Guarantee before but the savings were wild. Cabin 1294 looks to be close enough to an elevator, mid-ship on deck 10. I have RoyalUp bids out on GS, 2 BR GS and the OS but the sailing is sold out so it would be a miracle! Pre-Purchases Of course I had to get us the DBP, not bad at $72.99 pp/pd. When I went on this same itinerary in Oct 2022, I paid $75.99!! Never thought I would see prices lower on a weekend-partiers 3N. We have lunch at Hooked on Day 1 and Dinner at Izumi night 2. I’ve never booked Hooked before as my husband and I aren’t huge seafood lovers but saw they had a chicken sandwich and burger on the menu for me! Meredith loves seafood so she should be pleased and we can avoid the Day 1 lunch madhouse in the WJ. I was toying with the idea of Playmakers instead but with no windows to the outside, a real restaurant felt superior. When we used to live in the same city we had sushi nearly every week so Izumi was an easy specialty dinner choice. I also got us a set of RCCL slippers from the semi-hidden Royal Gifts section because they were $7.99 and I could not say no. Walking barefoot in the cabin always makes me think about what’s lurking in the carpeting so these should calm me. Lastly, we have 2-device internet so that should help with my Blogging Under the Influence!! Or is it PUTI @SweetPea??? I love that we’re embarking the same day so I will have your sneaky, in-the-bathroom blog to return home to. That reminds me, I should toss some underwear in my growing packing pile right now. Excursion I let Meredith pick/buy us the excursion and she chose the Desert Nest Zipline available in the cruise planner. Love a zipline and it definitely won’t be warm enough for any water-based activities so it sounded like a good plan to me. We’ll also probably roam the streets of Ensenada afterwards and take a peek in the Papas and Beers as is the norm. Pre-Cruise Hotel We’re staying at the Crowne Plaza Harbor Hotel the night before siiiimply because Meredith works for IHG and we got it for free. We easily could’ve driven up on the morning of embarkation but who doesn’t love a night in a hotel!? We will make our 10:30am check-in time slot on the dot without any traffic to contend with. Mostly I am excited to experience the Navigator water slides again! Best in the fleet in my opinion (until I make it to Icon, of course). Last time we went on Nav, I said I would book again for the slides alone! The two person raft is so so fun. Hopefully we get some semblance of warmth in the midst of the May Gray/June Gloom frigid coastal weather we have going on. I am also excited to see the production and ice shows. We missed them last time around due to laziness/being too full after dinner but I will make it a point to get in there this time! Meredith and I met doing theatre as children, then rekindled our friendship in a musical as adults and greatly appreciate live stage productions!! Let me know if you have any Navigator questions and I will do my best to find out or photograph things. I’m going to take a page out of the @OCSC Mike blog playbook and post in smaller snippets instead of big long recaps at the end of the day which should help with not forgetting any shenanigans. Wheeee 7 days till cruise day! And with Memorial Day this weekend, my mini work week should fly by!

Oooh, I like this thought. Heading out on a 3N from LA next Friday and hoping you’re right! Loosen up that I Free Games machine!

Does your mom pull down your Lyft rating with her unsupervised shenanigans?

Ooooh I am so happy to be reading this after booking my first Celebrity cruise for next year! I had to book Aquaclass because all the verandas were sold out and I can’t stoop to Ocean View. I didn’t realize Blu was open for breakfast and lunch as well as dinner! Great to hear as we’ll be on 14 nights and thats a loooott of Windjammer potato croquettes (or oops whatever the buffet is called on X). haha can’t wait to read your blog showcasing the Blu menu items!!

Just booked Freedom again for next May so I am so happy to read a full @Ampurp85 blog in preparation! Do I hope the shenanigans are kept to a minimum or not I can’t decide!!

Love your Ramona story.. I actually know 2 other Ramonas! As a female Daryl I always get excited when I find another, I believe it’s happened on 3 occasions. In the early 2000’s days of Facebook I was in a group called Girls Named Daryl Unite and we were around 100 strong! haha. Funny enough they’re almost all named Daryl Ann or Daryl Lynn.

Super easy to rent a car in Crete, all you need in a $20 International Driver’s permit from a AAA before you leave and a reservation. We drove to Elafonisi (pictured below) and Falasarna beaches from Chania and it was welllll worth the 1.5 hour trip. The beach was gorgeous and the drive was also memorable as you pass through some small picturesque towns. I also loved an ATV tour we took in Crete as well as a snorkeling excursion from Marathi. Sorry for the hijack @mashley1021. Amazing blog so far!!

Ahaha this reminds me of when I realized what parking now costs at the Disneyland Resort. When I was going as a teen, parking was $8, now each car is $30!!! That math does not add up since $8 (2005) dollars would only be $13!

I gotta say, my step Husky is the best dog I’ve ever owned and he seriously doesn’t take a lot of maintenance! He gets groomed 3 times a year and otherwise I brush him randomly (maybe like every 3 months?) when he looks a little fluffy. He is the calmest and sweetest boy. On walks everyone is barking and going absolutely apes%&* when they see us and we just trot right by smiling! Your Alaskan packing list sounds perfect! Happy to see binoculars made the cut, I spied on a treetop filled with 4 eagles with mine! If you can squeeze a mini one in, I’d recommend an umbrella too.

Hahaha they’ve taken to the upscale fare! Funnel cakes are for the rough-hewn sea pigeons.

She's still writing these???? I think they last one I read was #20 because I got so fed up with Stephanie not choosing Ranger or Joe. Just pick already! Hahaha I do love me some Grandma Mazur, though!

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.