JohnK6404

You know what? You're absolutely 100% correct! My bad (my MIL is here for the holiday weekend and now sternly correcting me )! Not in England, but in Scotland! She said they had the freshest fish. My MIL had moved with her parents from England to Scotland when she was in her late teens (earlier than I thought). While my wife was growing up, they used to visit her grandparents in Scotland for about a month or so every summer for many years. That's where those memories originated.

That's so true! My MIL (now 85) was born and raised in England and lived in Scotland for a few years in her early 20's before following her older sister over to the U.S. chasing those American military veteran husbands. I can't tell you how many times I've heard about how fresh and delicious the fish & chips are along the coast in England and how they used to serve it on newspaper (now I've been told it's on wax paper that looks like newsprint). Every time my wife and MIL order fish & chips here in the U.S., I hear that story and the comparison is on! If my wife and MIL like it, then it has to be good!

Maybe, that makes sense… strange … some old screenshots I took of all of the options we get in the dropdown during online check-in… I was able to pick naturalization certificate, but I guess any option that does not prompt immediate details would work for us…

… or like Virgin… their entertainment is sad. Spontaneous breakdancing show on the pool deck? No thanks!

That makes sense… good timing.

Because Royal wants to torture us! LOL!

What I used to do when I checked in using the website was select anything (eg. naturalization papers) just to get through to the last screen to select the boarding time. This was a good “hack” especially since I tend to check in all of our traveling party across multiple reservations so we can get the same boarding time (since they all are sleeping when it opens! ). Later the next day, when I had the time (and when the others had time), I would return and accurately update my passport info and all of the other necessary info. As you know, the check-in screens remain open almost right up to the sailing so you can always update your info at any time.

The day pass with unlimited open bar, food, etc., may be worth it if the price drops just a little bit (under/around $200) and you don’t already have the DBP. Otherwise, I’d probably rather stay onboard and enjoy a less crowded ship. We’ll see!

Wow! Nothing like opening at sky-high pricing! I’ll take the $10K Ultimate Family Cabana for a few hours!

I’m assuming we’ll be modifying the UDP for our JAN sailing since none of the specialty restaurants have posted to the cruise planner just yet. The modify link is there, but of course too early to make any reservations in the CP.

How's the pre-cruise training going?

That's what I remember saying to Christine... the closest was nearer to FLL than where we were in MIA (InterContinental). So maybe I should be saying the next time we're near FLL!

Looks delicious! The next time we sail out of Miami, we'll have to find the way there! We could not make it work last time (seemed far away from our hotel).

Bon Voyage!

Reminds me a little of the Canadian wildfire smoke that blanketed our area here in NY and the Northeast a couple of years ago. Pics from June 7, 2023… not as bad here on Long Island, but the sky was orange/red and limited visibility. Pulled from various news sites.

Time to resurrect this dusty thread... 200 more days in drydock!

Don't shortchange yourselves! We all get to live vicariously through you for the moment. They are all cures for the drydock blues (and the occasional tangents and reported shenanigans spice it up)!

Another EPIC @Lovetocruise2002 adventure begins! Sign us up!

Maybe start with the hibachi tables... what's not to like about fresh fried rice, grilled veggies, and steak, lobster, scallops, shrimp, chicken, etc.? I'm not a sushi or sashimi person (too large a piece of raw fish for me ), but love most of the rolls, teriyaki or tempura dishes, miso soup, gyoza dumplings, etc., you can get on the table service side. You won't leave hungry on either side of Izumi!

... and very good casual Japanese in Barcelona! Sorry, these pics did not make the blog cut, LOL! ... a little blurry, but delicious!

$49.99 on Odyssey JAN 2026 11-night sailing...

Wow… good to know.. in Japan, tipping is perceived as insulting! Another bucket list destination! Polar opposite of us in the US!

It was our first European cruise too so we may not be the best guide. We sort of followed the guidelines of various websites and apps. I would tip in euros while off the ship in the EU and USD while onboard (all pricing onboard is also in USD). I believe the crew onboard gets paid in USD as well since they’re from all over the world and RC is based in the US. I don’t think the excursion guides necessarily expected the tips, but they greatly appreciated them. Our guides were all excellent so we tipped around 5 euro per person (10 euro per couple). They seemed very grateful. For our all-day private Tarragona and Sitges tour though Viator, we paid for the tour guide’s lunch (we all ate together) and gave him a nice tip as well. We tipped the hotel porter 1 euro per bag and I think tipped the same for the taxi driver to/from the airport and cruise terminal since they loaded/unloaded all of our bags. We did not tip the taxi drivers when were traversing the city (no bags). They really did not even give us an option to round up or tip on their portable credit card terminals. We would just swipe the credit card and they would ask us how we wanted to pay… euros or USD… and they would skip to the last screen and ask if wanted a receipt. Pleasant thank you and goodbye. These screenshots are from an app called GlobeTips, but they seem to echo most websites… hopefully, this will help!

For what my opinion is worth (not much )… I highly doubt any major upgrades will be made to the aging Vision class (all in service are 28-30 years old now). I’m sure they will maintain them, but I doubt we’ll see any significant amplification. I’m assuming the Discovery class will eventually be taking their place in the fleet and the Vision class ships will be sold off or scrapped as they close in on 35-40 years old.

Matt posted a new video tonight on the anticipated amplification upgrades for Liberty, Ovation, and Harmony: