Ampurp85

Oh so you know how the stories work . When All my Children was airing, she was Mia for hours each day.

I third the fact that @WAAAYTOOO was the first person to make me feel welcomed here. I was also glad @Pooch stopped by and hate the negativity she experienced here. But on the Hooked topic, it wasn't too great on Wonder. Not a huge seafood fan but found their steak to be the best I ever tasted on Navigator. It was pure salt on Wonder. My brother got the seafood feast and captain's platter on Wonder, he was slightly disappointed with the catch of the day in the captain's platter. I know @asquared17 loved Hooked because of the massive lobstah!

The reply was embarkation evening, no talks of day.

My grandmother has a bit of a fear with water. Plus, she doesn't like to go no place that doesn't have Seagram's gin and Miller Lite. She will drink other gins but somehow, they are all inferior to Seagram's . I would love to get my grandmother to cruise, but every time I ask her, she backs out. I had finally gotten a yes and covid happened. She said God was telling her something, so........but whenever we do land-based vacations, the shenanigans are nonstop. Plus, she feels like my fur baby is the only grandchild she will get out of me and if we all go, she can't watch her.

6 Days to go......... I have been putting out fires at home and work. So, this vacation will be sorely needed . I will have to work that Sunday morning before we cruise but I will be done no later than 2pm. Last Tues my fridge went out. We do have a chest freezer but that is for vacuum-sealed frozen food. The refrigerator is under warranty, so they must see if they can fix before they just give us a new one. The tech was supposed to come on Thurs, and he didn't show until today..........but he forgot an important tool, so he is on his way again. Which pretty much means we won't have a new refrigerator until we get back. So, I have not only had to cook every day but go to the grocery store more often because nothing can be refrigerated. Since I don't normally cruise in May I had to do my Mother's Day tradition a week earlier. I treat my mother and grandmother to a spa day. Let me just say they have no problem getting mani/pedis and massages from stranger. But they refuse to allow anyone but me to touch their hair and face........I think it might be a culture thing. I normally give them a facial, scalp massage and trim, with styling. Thankfully they now share a house, with my grandmother staying on the first floor, so I only had to go to one location this year. My grandmother is all shenanigans all the time and I am not allowed to do anything while the Young and the Restless is on. Also, it is always five o clock, if you get my drift .......which bothers my mother. So, I went upstairs to her place to view the pile. My mother's mode of packing is to pile all her stuff on the dining room table, she never uses it, and then a few days beforehand just pick through and pack. It is a fairly neat pile but a pile, nonetheless. Also, she always has a list that she checks off as she goes through the pile, while talking to herself. It is really disorganized, organization. She is convinced that she will be moving to FL with her bf at the end of the year and will cruise enough to surpass me in loyalty levels. I am here for it if it happens, but I am 95% sure it won't. I did finished packing. My brother, who for years has been the ultimate procrastinator, actually was packed before me. When we went to Egypt, he literally packed at like 2pm and our flight was at 8:30pm. We currently have five bags between us and only one will be checked. The checked luggage is at 38lbs, but I believe that after I do laundry tomorrow maybe one or two things will make their way in. If you have read my blogs with my brother, then you know he can eat. So, I must point out that over half of one luggage is "snacks." My brother needs his honey, sesame sticks and chocolate. I know a lot of people think how you can bring anything when the ship has so much food......but food isn't snacks . I did book hibachi for the third leg of the B2B. Izumi is exempt from the D+ BOGO and I knew I was going to want Izumi's. I didn't realize Freedom class ships have the same small sushi area as Voyager class ships. I think the hibachi lunch suits me better, as I usually get udon and teriyaki anyway. My brother had already planned just to get some a la carte rolls. Plus, yesterday it was like $33+grats, I get the shrimp and steak with hibachi, so that is a win. I have printed all the tags, but I am not making paper copies of the setsail. They never seem to work for me and it's just a waste. I will take screenshots of them instead on each person phone. My passport expires in Sept and the plan is to get it renewed as soon as I return from this cruise. I am bringing my BC as a backup since it is below the 6-month threshold. I went to get the photo done and they are $19!!!!!!!! I felt old because I could remember when they were only $12, and I thought that was expensive. I have downloaded this cruises books to the Kindle. The weather is looking good for Chicago and hot for the cruise. In the immortal words of SpongeBob "I'm ready!"

Possibly the casino?

@Sweety You are so close, congrats. With what I have on docket, until Oct 2025, I will just cross the 300pt threshold. I definitely didn't think I would get there so fast. So, Pin still seems in reach over maybe the next 5yrs.

Wow at that puter fiasco. Maybe because the crew members are so green and not staying as long for their contracts, a lot of the information is lost in translation. But also, because this is a continuation of so many cruises .........Pins can go to CK for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Or are you staying in a suite? I read deck 8 and assumed balcony. But if this is the case on Oasis class ships, it makes me really want to get to Pin .

I was just going to post this, for every sailing I have but one the Chops+ 1 is more than the 3N package. Personally, I really have grown to dislike Chops dinner and would rather do any other specialty restaurant before that one.

That shrimp po'boy was so good, I think I had it twice on Wonder. I am craving Mason Jar now

I hope you enjoy Mason Jar. The best thing, well the only good thing, about port Canaveral is they have embarkation day down to a science. We were onboard by 10:15 each time, easily.

As long as you are in the car by 8am you should be fine. Lyft and Uber work, you can pre-book either for an assurance.

As a D+ member, you should be aware of the whole" book at a price you are comfortable with" mantra of Royal. The only time the UDP becomes cheap is BF and even then, that is not a guarantee. I have been on Mariner this year and honestly, I wouldn't do the UDP as there aren't enough specialty restaurants to make it worth it.

I had those square weighed pizza chunks in Rome. It wasn't bad, but I found it really dry. The best pizza was from a local place a few block from our hotel. I also did the less than 10 people guided Vatican tour from Viator. It was so crowded that they had flags and it was rough to keep up. But the experience was so worth it.

Drink packages aren't to be shared. So, allowing the child to use the freestyle cups is against the rules.

I carry the Tide stain wipes, always have, and they work. But I rarely bring anything in case I need to do some quick laundry. I normally do a load in the hotels, when I did my traditional S2S2Ss. But I got the sheets based off a recommendation and love them, they cut down on my laundry detergent bill.

That cup holder that attaches to the luggage will be one of my best Bezos purchases. I don't carry a purse, so I always have to take off my travel backpack and dig for my passport and sometimes paper boarding pass. This will hold two drinks and that. Plus, while I am having my snacks, I can keep my drinks within reach.

That is what I figured, thanks for the recon

I can book hibachi just fine, I wanted to prebook dinner on the sushi side, and it has never shown up. I recall Freedom having a nice number of tables on the sushi side, so I thought it was odd.

I have been waiting for a while to book a dinner on Freedom for Izumi. I know the sushi area is small, but I cannot understand why I can't book a dinner on Freedom. The option never showed up and I cannot even book it in the app. Has anyone been able to do this?

See that's also the rub, I would be spending in the casino on Celebrity as well, since I count the casino as my excursions . I currently have a celebrity cruise on the books but between my prime tier cruise and monthlies, I cannot justify it. I too originally thought, in comparison to Icon, Celebrity wasn't that bad with pricing. If the loyalty programs were to merge, it would be easier to justify keeping the sailing.

I was literally coming here to ask this

I think as a whole Celebrity is higher than Royal. There are a lot of factors at play. I am D+ and prime on Royal. So, for me Celebrity is too expensive for my taste. Since I rarely venture to bars and prefer to spend my time in the casino and going to shows; the 5 drinks a day and casino drinks work in my favor. So, I wouldn't be buying a drink package. Being prime and D+ also cuts my internet bill. That negates any bundle pricing. On top of which, I get monthlies and instant certs, so my cruise fare is heavily discounted. I just realized I haven't paid full price for a cruise since late 2021. Right now, I cannot fathom paying $3K for a Celebrity cruise because I am probably only spending $950 for the same thing on Royal.

FCC are ongoing, someone could get FCC for an inconvenience, problem, or changed or moved itinerary. I believe you are thinking about FCC issued during the shutdown.

I have only won on minimums, and I am 2/2 on winning bids. Mariner of the seas Jan 24th, 2022: Original room was an interior, changed cruise because I did Star class cruise with Ashley. Bid on a Spacious Panoramic OV $30pp min and won. This was during the restart, since I was cruising two others before this, I was notified I believe the second day of my Harmony Star class cruise. Oasis of the seas Jan 15th, 2023: Original room Interior, it was a prime cruise. Bid on OV balcony minimum $70pp and won. This one was surprising as I had cancelled my bid when it was $300pp and then the minimums dropped, 15min after I placed the new bid I had won. Got a deck 8 balcony midship. Edit: I was Emerald when I won in 2022 and Diamond, just a couple point shy of D+ when I won in 2023