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PatsFanBrian

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Everything posted by PatsFanBrian

  1. The week prior to our cruise the week of 6/25, both my wife and I came down with flu like symptoms. We tested ad nauseum right up to the official proctored test. Every test was negative. We both cleared up the day the ship was leaving port. Nothing but an official positive Covid result was going to keep us off that cruise.
  2. We all get another chance, the next jackpot is estimated at $630M, $360M one time payout, probably abut $260M after taxes. I can live with that.
  3. Correct. I live along the northern RI border, quick hop to 95 via 295. The only time we went out of Port Liberty we went down a day early, stayed a night at a nice hotel that provided a discount for week long parking, and enjoyed that extra night of vacation. It's about a 4 hour drive for us with normal traffic down 95S. On the way down, we stopped at our son's apartment in Brooklyn, then went to the hotel via Staten Island. Going back, we went via the GW.
  4. I bought my quick picks for tonight's MegaMillions, I'm ready to jump onboard tomorrow morning.
  5. We did an 11 day on Quantum back in ‘14 that began the Monday after Thanksgiving. The Promenade was decorated, but no specific holiday shows. We had a stop in old San Juan one evening which was very festive. The streets were full of holiday music and the good folks of San Juan were in the holiday spirit. We had another stop in St Kitts where we took the old train up the mountain and around the island. There was a group of Carolers going from car to car singing holiday favorites. It added a nice touch to the excursion. Vacationing right after Turkey Day is best. We once did Disney/Universal a full week before Christmas with our then young teens. It was great. All the parks were empty and we never waited in a line for anything. I highly recommend it if it’s possible to pull off.
  6. Guest do not have to wait until they get their sea pass cards, they can go straight to the muster station as soon as they step onboard. You just need the app and they'll scan your sea pass right from the app (for those who get onboard before the rooms are open).
  7. We were on Explorer 3 weeks ago, same class as Navigator. You don't make reservations for shows on that class of ship. Even though the ship was at full capacity, finding a seat in the main theater was never an issue, especially if you get there 15-20 minutes prior. The Ice Show was packed, not surprising given the small number of seats in Studio B. Get there 30 minutes early. Most game shows are in the Star Lounge. You definitely need to get there at least 30 minutes prior. The Love and Marriage show is in the main theater, you won't have an issue with seats. Trivia is usually busy, many sessions are held in the Schooner Bar which has limited seating. Also, with the Schooner Bar, if you have a good piano entertainer, one who gets the guests involved, it will be a challenge to find a seat. Same goes with the Pub guitarist.
  8. I was on Labadee a few weeks ago in the same beach lounger area. It had occurred to me how easy it would for someone to just walk over the rope and grab a space. I did not recall seeing anyone doing that, but I'm not surprised that some will try it. It's disappointing that the staff is not trained to deal with this behavior other that to ignore it. Most people are honest, but all it takes is one to put a damper on things.
  9. My wife got us started when she went with her mother on Brilliance back in '05 and liked it enough to book a cruise for both of us. I remember her sending me an email where she marveled at the sized of the ship. Our first sail together was on Freedom not long after it launched in '06. We couldn't imagine a larger ship. But Oasis had other plans. We've been on Radiance class twice, Voyager class twice, Freedom class twice, Oasis class 3 times and Quantum once. The only class I would likely stay away from at this point is Radiance, unless the itinerary was what I wanted. It's just a bit too small for me. But all the others each have their pros and cons and I'm good with any of them.
  10. I was on Explorer a couple of weeks ago (8 night sail). There were 2 Formal nights ("Dress Your Best"), one White night and the standard 70's theme night. How you want to actually dress is a personal choice. We dressed up on the first formal night because it was our anniversary, we were eating in Chops and we wanted a set of nice formal pictures. All the other nights, we always dressed in nice attire, but not formal. Comfort was the key. I always wore decent pants and nice shirts, varieties of tropical shirts and button/collared short sleeve shirts. My wife always wore a dress. We just like to be in something other than jeans/shorts/t-shirts in the evenings. But there were plenty of people wearing shorts, t-shirts, etc. If you have the Royal App, you can already see the Daily Planner for your sailing. It will be updated with more detail as you get closer.
  11. This. We did eMed, had the email and PDF within minutes, printed it and brought it with us.
  12. Correct, there's a booth at the end of the pier where you can purchase the passes. At the dock itself, there are many shops and there's a German style pub/brewery. We walked to the brewery one evening to enjoy a couple of samplers of good beer.
  13. Two weeks ago, we arrived in Miami, carried our own luggage with the first group, we were at the airport by 9:00.
  14. Not sure, but that may be the adult treasure hunt. The ships that have rinks hold it there. They break the audience into sections, get volunteer captains (one man, one woman) and then they'll announce items that each section must produce, typically it's a bit risque and adult oriented (i.e. a red bra, usually no shortage of volunteers to pull out their bra and give it to the section captain). It's usually held later in the evening when participants have had a bit to drink and are less inhibited. It's a lot of fun. If that's not it, then I don't know.
  15. Try doing it on the website. We just returned from a sail with our friends and, during the time leading up to it, I was able to reserve everything for the 4 of us via the cruise planner on the website. I've done that two other times in the past with no issues, but I never use the app to do my reservations, so I don't know if there's a limitation with it.
  16. We've been impacted twice by tropical weather. September 2019 Boston -> Bermuda, hurricane was passing Bermuda the day before we would have arrived. We were supposed to be 2 days at sea, 3 in Bermuda, 2 days back. Instead, we went to Portland on day 1 (just a 2 hour drive from home for me, some who were from that area got off and went home for a few hours ), we lost one day in Bermuda. Losing the day in Bermuda was disappointing, but there was some minor damage to the island, so sailing there a day earlier would have been tough. Two weeks ago, Southern Caribbean on Explorer. TS Bonnie was passing close to Curacao and Aruba when we were supposed to be there. We ended up going to Jamaica and Coco Cay instead. Disappointing since Curacao/Aruba are 2 of our favorite stops, but can't control the weather and we made the best of it. Just more motivation to do the Southern Caribbean again. Travelling between June and October is always going to carry that risk in the Atlantic.
  17. We were 12 points away prior to Covid. We took advantage of the double points offer last year and we were able to skip over one cruise to get there. Now if we only had the time and money to book another one, but we'll likely have to look towards the end of '23 or early '24.
  18. We checked our account yesterday and we are now officially Diamond.
  19. In my younger days, I drove MA to Palm Beach several times, it was always 24 hours. And that was leaving in the evening so I could get through the I-95 corridor between CT and Richmond with little to no traffic, and just the occasional pit stop. It's a tough ride. I would gladly drive to New Jersey or Baltimore for a cruise. Of course, Boston is perfection, but the itineraries are not appealing.
  20. On our sail a couple of weeks ago (on Explorer), we had set MTD times, most at 6:45. The issue we ran into was that the people who were at our table for the early seating were showing up late and then taking their time to finish up (I should add that to the pet peeves thread). After 2 nights of that, we demanded to be put at another table and we were accommodated for the remainder of the week. While the walk-in line was long, it seemed to us to be moving at a good pace. The line was usually cleared out within 30 minutes.
  21. As all have said, leave as many buffer days as you can schedule. The airlines are entirely unpredictable at this point and while cancellations have become more frequent, delays are several times more likely and while you may still take-off on that day, any delay may end with you missing the ship anyways. We flew from Boston to Miami on 6/24 for a 6/25 sail. Our original schedule had us leaving in the morning. A couple of months prior, it was moved to early afternoon. The day of the flight, it ended up being delayed from 2:00 -> 4:15 -> 6:30. At that point we started to get nervous, but were fortunate that we finally made it to Miami around 10:30PM. Plan for problems.
  22. I always compare ribs against my own, which since I’m saying so myself, are spectacular.
  23. Hard to quantify, but I would vote for Jamaica. Cozumel a close 2nd.
  24. We paid a premium for the beach club because we had to scramble while onboard. Was it worth it for us? Yes. But that won’t be true for everyone. I can say that the food we got would go for about $100/person in my home area. That will be different based on where you live. The remainder was the smaller crowd and impeccable service. Will we do it again? Not at the price we paid, but $165? Yes we would. We don’t regret paying for it. By far the best meal of the week and the facility is impeccable.
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