PatsFanBrian

Just signed up for Southern Caribbean from 6/25/22 - 7/3/22 on Explorer departing from Miami. We will be on the ship for our 40th anniversary. Add to that the double points which will bump us up to Diamond. It's been far too long and we can't wait for the date to get here.

Prior to our last cruise last September, I filled out the special needs form mentioned above. The room attendant set it up for me. They'll also provide distilled water.

The cruise industry is always a target. Any ship that deals with a noro outbreak is instantly in the news. The reality is that you do have thousands of people in close proximity who are constantly interacting with each other. Any communicable disease is going to spread easier. We all know that the crew is constantly reminding people to sanitize, but not everyone heeds the warnings. It is what it is. If it slows down the popularity of cruising, it may lead to lower prices. ?

My wife just talked to her sister and the ship is just debarking now. Carnival allowed the passengers to stay in their rooms overnight rather than sending them off near midnight.

Of course, they would not have been allowed off the ship if it was positive. But it's also important to note that the passenger did not show symptoms of Corona (fever, cough, shortness of breath) and yet they went through this charade anyways. My sister-in-law was understandably angry as were other passengers who had to rebook flights because of overreaction.

There is no booking of shows and entertainment on Adventure. You only need to do that on the bigger ships.

Carnival Panorama - Debarkation yesterday was delayed until late Saturday night. My sister-in-law was on this cruise. A passenger was reported to be ill but no signs of the virus symptoms. The authorities stopped debarkation (which has started at 6:30 AM) until test results were returned which didn't happen until 10:00 PM. My wife talked to her sister a few times and passengers were initially not allowed to return to their rooms, so they had to stay at their debarkation locations. Finally during the afternoon, they were allowed to go back to their rooms until clearance was given. The next cruise has been shortened to 6 days. The panic and over reaction is insane.

Can't speak to Bonaire. We enjoyed Curacao. Our stop was 14 hours which is long for a cruise. In the morning, we took a tour to the distillery and then to a beach. In the afternoon, we walked the town and found a few nice surprises going up and down small side streets. At night, the town was lit up, the pastel colored buildings really jumped out and it had a very romantic feel. We really enjoyed this stop and would love to go back. In Aruba, we took a taxi to a beach in the morning, walked the town in the afternoon and then finished the evening with a sunset catamaran. Very nice indeed. We've been to St. Thomas a few times. One of our favorite excursions was driving our own power boat to a snorkeling area. The boats were lots of fun. We've also done horseback riding on the beach.

My handle and avatar of very self-explanatory. I'm enjoying reading the responses.

It's always gone by too quickly for me. Often the day is ending before it feels like it ever got going.

We're still Emerald and got Diamond pins on our last cruise, perhaps we got yours Just to make sure we didn't miss something, we checked at the C&A desk and it was indeed a mistake, so close........

I've never seen a "service" animal on a cruise, but we did have a pigeon while on Serenade last September.

There will be multiple places to watch. They'll have all the national games (Pats/Cowboys, SNF, MNF), and at least one of the 1:00 games.

Best laugh I've had in a while. ? I'll be in the stands making noise for my team. Should be a good game, but the weather won't cooperate.

I'm not sure I could really answer the question since each class of ship, and each ship within a class, brings unique experiences. My first was Freedom back in '06 and then Liberty a couple years later. We are planning on getting back on Freedom in early '21. I have a fondness for that class, probably because you never forget your first Then we went on an Oasis class binge, going on Oasis/Allure 3 times in a row. I can;t say anything negative about it We were on Quantum's first full sail back in '14 and that may have something to do with us not getting back on a Quantum class ship. We didn't care for the style of dining or the layout of the public areas, along with shakedown issues which dampened the experience a bit. But I know much has changed since then, so perhaps we'll give a Quantum class another try someday. We really enjoyed Adventure and wouldn't hesitate to go back on that class, just the right blend of size and activities. We most recently sailed Serenade and I found the ship a bit too small for my liking, probably my least favorite of all the ones we have sailed. All said, we probably remember Freedom the best and we're anxious to get back on with the recent amping.

The pools are definitely not heated.

In my previous life, as a software manager, the money was good and my wife and I would take 2 vacations/year, 1 cruise and 1 not a cruise. After a forced early retirement 2 years ago (a fancy term for "you're approaching 60 and we have younger people to do your job cheaper"), the income is greatly reduced as I started a new career make half of my previous income. So going forward, it will be one cruise every 2-3 years (just finished one in Sept, so looking at spring of '21). Also, our kids live in other parts of the US, so we try to fit in visits to them every couple of years, funds permitting. Perhaps when we reach true retirement, and presumably more debt will be paid off, we will get back to once a year.

Study the Compass before the day starts. You will likely find an activity you'll end up enjoying that you would have missed otherwise.

Count me in with those who avoid the casino because of the smoke. I would spend time there if it was smoke free.

That was always a myth perpetuated by the tobacco lobby. As you said, nothing changed except for a more pleasant experience for all the non-smokers. Even most sports stadiums don't allow smoking anymore.

I'm enjoying your vlogs, I've always been curious about life as an employee. I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but what do you do between contracts? Do you work another job to pay the bills? Along the same line, is there a required wait period between the end of one contract and the start of a new one?

I was in Bermuda last month and I came back the same crazy a-hole that I was when I left. Depending on who you ask, I may be a bit crazier.

I was on Serenade last month and came away feeling like it needed to solid facelift. Nothing major, just the ship showing its age. Nothing wrong with the amenities, we got what we expected. But some issues such as the large screen at the pool was not working. In the stateroom corridors there was a musty odor indicating it was time to replace the carpets. A few other minor annoyances. Overall, nothing to reduce my enjoyment. But it's time for a general refresh.

I know I'm just restating what others have said, but there are several factors here: Cruising is not for everyone just as all-inclusives are not for everyone, adventure trips are not for everyone, "staycations" are not for everyone, etc, etc. The unfortunate part of that is you have to try it to find out. Even if you didn't like this one, RC has many different classes of ships, each offering different experiences. Some prefer the smaller ships, some the largest, some find their happy zone in-between. Use this community if you ever go back to RC. The feedback will be overwhelming. If you decide to cruise again, even if it's not on RC, research the offerings before booking. There's so much information to be found which can mitigate a bad experience. For that matter, no matter what you decide for a vacation in the future, research until your eyes go blurry. I hope you find something in the future that suits you.

I had noticed the same thing.