WAAAYTOOO

They're bags ? I thought they were rocks ! I didn't look at the picture very long, I guess !

TBH, the few times we went to the C&A lunches, we decided they weren’t worth the time or effort. I loathe small talk and really have little interest in “getting to know” the staff and officers (with very few exceptions). Since we normally have the UDP, we have to miss a specialty meal to go and the food is generally very “meh”. We hadn’t been in years, even before our 2 year pause due to COVID. I’m glad they have it for those who enjoy it but it’s not our scene.

I doubt it. Think how expensive it would be to replace every door lock. Maybe ? Who knows....

No wonder they call it by the old name !

We just did the mattress thing too. I hate shopping for a mattress. They are so flippin' expensive and every store has their own brand so it's next to impossible to compare. We, too, had an old (maybe the original ??) full foam Tempurpedic and it weighed 3 tons. Even from the beginning I could never even lift the corners to make the bed. Dan always had to do the fitted sheet...then I could do the rest. I warned the store manager (where we finally bought our replacement) that he had better send at least 3 big men to pick up the old mattress...it's THAT heavy...but of course, he didn't. You should have seen those 2 poor guys trying to wrestle that hippo out of the house. I felt very bad for them. The new mattress is heavenly....but then, they always are...for a while. We have friends who bought one of the hybrid mattresses and they love it. We went with full latex (it's not heavy at all, surprisingly) this time but there is a fluffy topper so it's really like floating on a cloud. I had never heard of the brand before but so far.....

Some Genies are better at pre-sail comm than others. I can't remember which Genie (I do recall that it was a male), but I have read a number of pre-sail concerns b/c that particular Genie was a poorer pre-sail communicator than previous Genies. When the time came to board, they found this Genie to be exceptional but simply didn't communicate that well up front. Concur with @MLHthat the Genies have to be very careful about what they put in writing. I had a Genie tell me that when it comes to emails and phone cons, they will never "say" anything that is contrary to official policy...but when it comes down to private conversations in person, the Genies will be more spontaneous. I wouldn't worry too much about a short lapse in return comm....but if it goes more than 3-4 days I would send a follow-up just to be sure that everything is a-ok. With Genies moving in and out of isolation so much, you never know what might be a legitimate concern and what might simply be overwork.

We are on team #passportsstayinthesafe

I hesitate to comment on this thread since I have not cruised (any class) since the re-start, but I will say something about the luggage delivery situation since this has been a pet peeve of mine for some time. There is really no excuse for your luggage not being delivered to your suite in a timely manner. I concur that this is a matter of poor training and lack of oversight. Even though your Genie is not the one delivering your luggage, he/she is the one responsible for making sure you are happy (don't read too much into that statement...I fully realize no one but YOU can "make" you happy)...and delayed, incomplete or piss-poor luggage delivery will not make a guest happy...and it's a very bad way to start the cruise. TBH, I feel like the luggage delivery schema for SC has been sketchy all along. I totally understand about reduced resources but as I said, I think this has been a problem from the beginning even when "reduced resources" (how much do I hate this excuse !!) were not necessarily an issue. The promo video shows Reyno climbing the stairs, swinging a suitcase, smiling all the while. So much wrong with that picture.... This is the primary reason that we have, in the past, insisted that our luggage remain with us during embarkation. The reasons are: (1) You know where your luggage is at all times ! It never leaves your sight. (2) We make sure that the luggage "handler" (BTW, this can be a complicated situation.....particularly in Bayonne where there are, in most cases, 3 separate "groups" of people touching your bags. It could be like this at other ports too but I know for sure that the Longshoremen in NJ require only Union labor touch your bags prior to them getting onto the ship) takes the bags UPSTAIRS, not just leave them at the foot of the stairs or worse, outside (which HAS happened to us even when SC) ! (3) Of course, if you and your bags arrive at the same time then you can begin unpacking immediately, if this is your choice. If not, do whatever you choose to do...but you will know that your bags are there and waiting. One less thing to worry about. Certainly there are situations where your room is not ready yet or for whatever reason, you do not go directly to your suite, in which case, we have them go ahead and take the bags to the suite with instructions for the bags to be taken upstairs. We haven't had that scenario fail us YET.

Again....very nice size for Europe ! Well done.

That's b/c you leave their a$$es at home when you don't cruise in SC ! LOL [just kidding !]

While Izumi is not a gourmet sushi restaurant, it is above average, IMO. I am not a sushi lover but Dan is....and he loves Izumi...and I always find something that I enjoy. I really do not care for nori (seaweed wrap) so I always ask for a soy wrap and they always accommodate me. So to answer your question about "special order" sushi, my answer would be, "yes". As long as they have the ingredients, I have no doubt that they would create whatever you ask for. I also don't eat cream cheese so if I want a roll that normally has cream cheese, I ask them to just leave that out and use a soy wrap and I have never been disappointed.

All I can say is....you are a good friend. Not so sure I would have made this sacrifice !!

I've had GE for many years and I've never heard of Sentri !! Is that something for the US/Mex border (kinda like Nexus) ?

Anecdotally, it seems as if they either have the cruise itself OR the Cruise Planner items on "sale" (not really) at any given time but almost never both of them at the same time. I guess they think that people who book a cruise (at some presumed discount) will automatically purchase CP items at the same time....but we're too smart for them, right ?

Wow !

Fingers crossed for you (good luck).

Unless Alaska wasn’t included, the last protocol update for US sailings was through the end of September. I am unaware if there has been any recent changes. I don’t think there has been.

The kummelweck sandwich has “evolved” (and not in a good way, IMO) from its earliest incarnation. The last couple of times we tried it, we were so disappointed that we just gave up. They have obviously downgraded the beef b/c it is way chewier and fattier than it used to be. Also, long gone is the good au jus that they used to serve which has been replaced with a nasty thick gravy. Ugh. Hopefully you’ll have better luck with the kummelweck than we did. Such a shame, really b/c it was a really unique and enjoyable quick bite to grab. It used to be our go-to embarkation lunch.

How can you see into my house from waaay up there ?

Thanks for confirming that they are still serving lobster tails in the CK on lobster night...at least, on Anthem. I know there has been some conflicting info on whether or not they are serving food from the MDR outside of the MDR. Great news.

Granted, it was a number of years ago, but we were once taken out of line and moved to the front when one of the MDR workers spotted a gold card. Not sure it would happen today but it did, in the past.

Some of the “older” Oasis ships have connecting suite/balconies but they seem to have discontinued that in the latter designs. Most people would rather not have another stateroom connected to their suite so I think they stopped doing that for the most part.

What's CarPlay and Android Auto ?

Day 4 ? How can it be day 4 already ?! You guys need to slow the sun down or something. This is going WAAAYTOOO fast !