USCG Teacher

Our first cruise was in May of 1999 on the Enchantment of the Seas. I proposed to my wife on the stage of the Orpheum Theater with the assistance of the Cruise Director who tricked her into getting up on stage under the guise that she had lost her SeaPass card. Pretty lasting memory if you ask me. ?

This was very much my experience throughout France, and especially in Paris, as well. When respect was shown, it was almost always reciprocated. We went to one small family restaurant off the beaten path where I struggled through an entire meal leafing through my French to English dictionary (it was pre-smart phone days!), then the waiter shared the dessert selections in perfect English. He wasn't a bit malicious about it, and we all had a good laugh. He told us that it seemed like we needed some practice on our French, so he gave us the opportunity. He wasn't wrong.

You can switch back and forth. ?

August 16, 2020 - 7 Nights Bahamas on Oasis of the Seas.

If I may, where might one find one of these? A quick Amazon search turned up some questionable results...

This is a traditional Halloween drink around my house. You can't go wrong with it!

Jim, you took a metric crap-ton of amazing shots (yes, that's an official unit of measurement), but this one belongs in the formal portrait folios you get on board...

I called RCCL twice with this specific question, except on Oasis. Neither person I spoke to (or the various people THEY spoke to on the line with me!) were aware. They're small enough that even if they don't work it's not as if you took up a bunch of valuable packing space by bringing them, but I certainly wouldn't count on it working.

As a former Atlantic City casino employee, let me tell you unequivocally that there were approximately 423,654 things that were more influential in the Revel going under than their smoking policy...

We experienced the same program for a sailing to the Western Caribbean on Enchantment ages ago. I think it was out of Port Canaveral, but it may have been Miami. It was our first ever cruise, and it made everything extremely smooth and relaxed. It was a great 1st impression.

Can only hope so! ?

I do believe you just described Keno. ?

If you're willing to carry all of your luggage off the ship on debarkation day yourself, you can be amongst the first passengers to exit the ship. This procedure is commonly referred to as "Express Walk Off" or, more commonly, just "Walk Off." Otherwise, you put all of your luggage besides your carry on in the hallway the night prior to debarkation and the cruise line gathers it all and transports it to the terminal the following morning. You are assigned a group number and you disembark at an assigned time. If you're in a rush, Walk Off is the fastest way off the ship, but if not leaving until 9 or 10 is fine for you, then it really is personal preference.

Those little Mio concentrated "water enhancer" packets can go a long way to keep the tap water more interesting, too!

If it were me driving, I wouldn't even go through Philly, I'd bail off I-95 at the Delaware Memorial Bridge and take I-295 N. Follow Route 40 and cross over to the NJ Turnpike, then it's straight up to Newark/Bayonne. Sounds a bit complicated, but it's a really easy drive, and will get you around all of the Philly traffic.

Always prudent. ? Thanks for the clarification. We're close enough to Port Liberty that it's an easy drive in, but if there was a hotel in the area Newark area with a free shuttle deal that came close to what a week's worth of parking cost, I'd certainly consider it for the convenience!

Which hotel did you stay at out of curiosity? While I've seen a bunch of the Newark hotels offering the stay & park option, I've seen precious few that also offer a free shuttle to/from the port.

As a fellow Central Jersey type, I feel this pain so deeply. An interesting and rare additional possibility: Boscov & Apple fly (or at least used to fly) charter Disney flights outs of Reading Regional Airport from time to time. ONCE I was able to latch on to the charter as an air-only option as the dates lined up for me. It was like half the price of flying from PHL, and that included spending the night before at the Holiday Inn Express across the parking lot (where I was allowed to leave my car for no charge!). The stars have to align just right, but when they do it's pretty sweet!

Hmm... I guess I'm not a "select" sailing.

This was my impression, but I was willing to be optimistic! ?

Glad to be of help! ?

Does Emerald have good drink discounts on board? I was under the (very possibly mistaken) impression that they didn't kick in until Diamond.