WAAAYTOOO

Exciting news about Hard Rock !  This is the first I’ve heard of it.  Woohoo.  We used to stay at the Hard Rock when we were still flying in.  I really hate that they got rid of the outside shopping/eating area.  We quit going there once they shut all of that down…

2 hours ago, GregD said:

You two look like you are having so much fun! Looking at your upcoming cruises, how long will you be on Independence in August? We will be on her starting the 24th.

Thanks, Greg. We really are having a blast.

Unfortunately we will just be on that 1, 4 nighter (8-15).  We usually try and snag a couple of add-ons (just like we’re doing now on EX) but so far it hasn’t happened with these IN cruises (June and Aug) but there’s still time !
 

It would be great to finally meet you guys.

1 hour ago, loki007 said:

We use our card for all everyday purchases and then redeem the points for on board credit for our cruises. I have never used the points for an actual cruise. 

Same

I was able to save quite a bit of money today with both dining packages and individual specialty meals.  BE CAREFUL though, some of the items have gratuity included and some do not.

Others have already posted tibs and tabs about this but I don't think there's a thread devoted to it...at least, not that I know of.

There has been a CP "sale" going on for a couple of days.  It is "on again/off again" but it's back on today.

BUT - BE CAREFUL.  Some of the dining packages include gratuities in the "list price" and some do not so be careful cancelling something that you already have until you know for SURE that it's going to be a savings.

1.  It appears as though MOST of the packages - UDP and 3 night, already include the grats.  If the grats are included, it will say so below the advertised price.  If it says "Gratuities Included" then the final price will simply be the number of packages that you are purchasing, multiplied by the price of the package(s) you are purchasing.  If it says "pre-cruise savings", the grats are NOT included in that price so you will have to calculate the total price to see what the final $$ will be.

2.  It APPEARS as though the requirement to eat at least one meal on nights #1 or #2 is gone.  The CP no longer required me to choose a "first" meal time.  That's a good thing, IMO.  Hopefully you can now use your packages on any days/nights that you choose.

3.  It appears as though all of the individual restaurants still require you to calculate gratuities....IOW, the grats are not included in the posted price for individual restaurants.  Some of the individual restaurants that I checked were less $$ than when I first purchased and some were not.  Just be sure that you know what you'll be paying BEFORE you cancel anything and/or purchase at the "reduced" price.  It seems like the package prices include grats.

4.  I was not able to use any of my available OBC when I purchased/repurchased my specialty dining.  It gave me the option of using the OBC but the final price was never reduced by the amount of the OBC so I am HOPING that the OBC is still there.  This is uncertain to me at the moment.  Hopefully the OBC will reappear in a day or so.

5.  As far as I can tell, the ability to make pre-purchased dining reservations ahead of time has still not been implemented.  I was never prompted to make any specific reservations.

6.  Other items in the CP may also be on sale.  I have only looked at dining so I am unaware if other areas of the CP are similarly affected.

The prices are pretty good (considering the upward trend for specialty pricing) and I saved quite a bit of $$ by cancelling and repurchasing but it took me a while to figure out the secret code.

Thursday, day 7.  Due to call at St Kitts today but not arriving until 11 AM.  Nothing planned for today.

We have been blessed with beautiful weather and calm seas for this entire trip.  So fortunate !

Off to breakfast at Giovanni’s.  It’s one of my very favorite Pinn perks.  

Tonite dinner was Izumi.  There is no hibachi on EX so it’s always sushi only….which is fine with me.  I’m not a fan of the hibachi menu (or the “show”) anyway.  This was night #2 of our 3 night dining package.  Chops on night #9, the last night.

Insider tip:  if you see chopsticks nearby, this is probably NOT guacamole.

We went to the casino after dinner (who’s surprised) and it was a mixed bag.  Dan and I played some Dancing Drums (b/c the pigs were all occupied) and we lost a little bit.  Dan went and played some video poker and won while  I played some UTH and lost.  Ugh.  Back in the room now.

Tomorrow is St Kitts (again) and we have no plans to get off.  Today was another visit to Grenada and we just got off for a little while and browsed the terminal shops.  I bought Dan a couple of new Caribbean shirts which he DESPERATELY needed.  He’s been wearing the same sad ones we bought in Aruba probably 12 years ago !  Most of them are missing buttons and I’m a terrible wife who has never fixed them for him.  It’s easier just to buy some new shirts !  He now has 2 new ones…

I would never use a bag that had previously been used with firearms or ammunition of any kind. Just too many things can go wrong.  Sniffing dogs, for example.  Why add that risk of suspicion and attention.

Dan - Symphony 2-2-25

Raye - Symphony 2-9-25

Both are OV balcony guarantees so undoubtedly we will have to change staterooms….but the upgrade fee was right.  $-0-

20 minutes ago, Butters530 said:

Turks and Caicos here we come!

I'm jelly.  We just got changed to PDCC.  <yawn>

28 minutes ago, kjack said:

Royal caribbean change the cruise itinerary to a destination I do not want to go, can I get a refund not a credit but a refund?

the travel is scheduled for June 6, 2024

Sometimes.  When a change of itinerary is announced, there will be options for you to consider. Sometimes, refund is an option, but not normally.

We got PDCC for both of my Indy cruises (June and August) [yawn].  

Ummm…I love that Smokey tomato soup they serve at the CT.

6 minutes ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

I was just trying to get into my reservation to buy amenities but it's not letting me get to the page with the options. I can get into my reservation, but when I click "plan my reservation" it goes back to the log in screen. I tried more than once and it kept doing the same thing. It's frustrating! They need to get this fixed.

I’m having the same issues.  

Ok.  I’m gonna try and upload these Ocean World photos.  Wish me luck.

I know this is hard to read but it will give you an idea of the content of the Park. It’s much bigger than I would have thought before I saw it for myself.

Again, maybe not so easy to read, but some idea of the show schedules

 

This is the only photo I got of an actual dolphin since the dolphin encounter wasn’t included in our excursion.  I will say though, they make it very easy for you to watch all of the interactions/encounters, even if you haven’t paid to participate.  The shows are all readily visible from a distance.  You just don’t get to interact with the animals if you haven’t paid for the excursion.  Lots of opportunities to observe.

 

We (at least, I did not.  Dan watched a bit) did not watch the dolphin show but this is a photo of the dolphin show area.  As you can see, it’s pretty easy to watch a show from this vantage point even if you’re not directly involved.

Fresh water pool

 

Dan actin’ the fool.  This is by the kiddie area of the fresh water pool.  OBTW, the fresh water pool was COLD

 

They have 2 bird houses.  This is the macaw area.  Beautiful birds.

The second bird house was for the smaller birds, primarily love birds.  
 

No explanation needed for this one…

…or this one…

The snorkeling area had a couple of plexiglass viewing areas.  Lots of fish and coral to see.  I really enjoyed snorkeling in this area but we were fortunate enough to have done this early.  Later in the day it was crowded and chaotic as there were kids in there who had no idea how to snorkel and were thrashing about maniacally.  I’m sure it was very disruptive to the fish.  Glad I missed that…

 

Bizarre photo of Dan in the snorkeling area.  Actual arms and reflections of arms.  Yikes !

 

This is a rather crappy photo of the shark encounter area.  It’s actually quite large.

The sharks in this interaction are nurse sharks and the are extremely wimpy as sharks go.  They ran and hid in the rocks once the snorkelers entered the water. When this photo was taken (before the snorkelers got in) the sharks were just looking for a free meal.  They know when the chow is coming out !

 

Moving on to the sea lions.  Here is Dan about to get a kiss.  While I was taking this picture, I had an employee telling me, “Sorry, no photographs allowed”.  I just ignored him and took this one but put my phone away after that.  I had no interest in seeing the inside of a Dominican jail.  

After the encounter was over, photography wasn’t a problem.  This was during an actual sea lions show which was open to the public

Obligatory balancing-the-ball-on-the-snout photo.

Heres the sea lion (I can’t remember his name) giving mouth-to-mouth (or boca-a-boca, depending upon which narration you were listening to) to an unfortunate member of the staff who nearly drowned when this SAME sea lion pushed him off the rocks, moments earlier !

Scene of the crime…

Welp, that’s all of the exciting things we saw and experienced at Ocean World.  If you get the chance to go when in Puerto Plata, I do recommend it.  

 

It's been many, many years since we visited St Croix.  We went on a Cruzan distillery tour and enjoyed it.  It's still (or at least, was, at the time we went) a family owned business and the tour was given by a family member (the daughter or granddaughter....can't remember which) of the founder.

I have not forgotten about the photos from Ocean World.  For cosmic reasons that I simply do not understand, the photos never synched with my iPad so I have to figure out how to upload them.  I will try that later today.  Wish me luck

 

Last night dinner was in Chops and we were extremely fortunate to have @JustMeJoe and Mrs JustMe join us.  Our favorite waiter, Andriy was his usual enchanting self and we had a great time.  Consumed 2 bottles of "champagne" and a bottle of red wine.  Fun, fun

Then we were off to the casino where I first lost and then ended up walking away a bit ahead.  I have all but given up on the slots so I'm spending most of my casino time at UTH which is where I usually was before I tried slots.  The machines just do not like me.  I will be sitting at a machine and all of the ones around me are ding, ding, ding-ing away and mine just sits there and frowns. 

Today we are in Antigua with the Emerald Princess.  Since we did the stingray excursion here 2 weeks ago, we are staying on the ship today.  It looks like a beautiful day so I'm hoping that those who are going out will have a great time.

Pompeii is one of those places that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.  

There is still a "free" sauna/steam room on Explorer.  

Your gratuities will be switched from the MDR to the specialty restaurants.  You don’t have to do anything.

Welcome to leg #2 !

Yesterday we had a mysterious bottle of “champagne” show up in our room.  It had an apology note with it from C&A so we assumed it was due to the fact that they royally screwed up our loyalty gifts twice on both of our turnarounds.

I bumped into @JustMeJoe this morning and he asked me if we had received our bottle and then explained that (apparently) everyone that was B2B on that last leg got a bottle.  You may recall that our TAD was something of a Charlie Foxtrot due to the number of Guest Services “issues” on the 4-14 leg (those that were disembarking) and that disembarking and reboarding were delayed for over 2 hours that day.

One thing that I failed to mention in that discussion was the weirdo fact that we actually checked in for our new muster station BEFORE we even left the ship on our turnaround !  First time that’s ever happened.  It just so happened that our new muster station was in the Star Lounge which is also where we were assembled for rurnaround…so we scanned our new Seapass cards and completed the muster station requirement before we even departed the ship to go through CBP !

Agree with the others.   Driving is your best option

3 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Did some damage in the casino

Congrats !  I have sucked the past few nights in the casino.  Back to my old ways