Andy & Sheryl Unwin

Couldn't resist taking advantage of the Casino Offer. Sheryl and I will be enjoying our first sailing on Grandeur in March. 19 - Miami 20 - Cruising 21 - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic 22 - Labadee, Haiti 23 - Cruising 24 - Miami

As a former serving member of the Royal Navy, I genuinely rebelled against the whole idea for many years. As a professional sailor I had a jaundiced view of floating "Gin Palaces" one I freely admit was not correct. Finally though, I had to come up with something for one of Sheryls birthdays so I bit the bullet and booked a 5 nighter on Brilliance. From the moment my feet touched the deck, I changed my mind. Once more I could feel a ship under me, her motion, her machinery, her vitality. I was hooked. While leaving harbour from Tampa, I loved every moment. From assessing wind speed and direction, currents, potential hazards and more, it all came back. Later, after passing under the Sunshine Skyway and making her way to sea, Brilliance brought back so many lost memories. Cruise ships will never bring me quite the same feelings as one of the grey ladies of the sea, after all they have a different intent and purpose. But they are close enough that this old sailor loves them dearly. I can close my eyes and reminisce, which is as close as I will ever get again.

An immediate suggestion (although likely no longer needed), is focus on a single static object. This is simple to do and much easier when sat still. When walking, shift from one stationary spot to the next. Try not to look out of windows. There are suggestions above about green apples and ginger, both of which work.

I had this happen mid last year. At that time we had 3 cruises booked and they had shown up in both the App, and the online page. However, I logged in online one day to find all 3 vanished. When I refreshed my App, it happened there too. It was some kind of techno gremlin and all that was needed was a quick call to C&A helpline and they showed up again.

Absolutely, off the decking onto the sand on the left and they are tucked away on a rack, easy to find

We usually have first breakfast of coffee and danish delivered to the cabin at about 0700. We enjoy it on the balcony then scrub up and change for second breakfast in the MDR. about an hour later, will find us in the Windjammer for a small snack and coffee. We did this on Freedom in September, so yes the MDR is open for breakfast. Very good it is too.

Not the first time I have heard this. The drinks onboard Allure last month were $13 range so I dont think any have doubled. Personally, I would decline the DBP for that price. Even I cant break even on it

I am very pleased to report a successful outcome. There are about 50 ranger cookies in the pantry now. They are, delicious.

Thats a subjective personal assessment. What I will say is Sheryl and I love the JS for a host of reasons. Extra space, bathtub and walk in closet chief among them.

Its Electrickery Magickery

The closet, extra room and the bathroom really do make a difference dont they? We do love the JS and although we cant justify the cost every time, we shall endeavour to book one as often as we can.

Thank you, I have passed that to Sheryl and hope to enjoy the results

Our last cruise on Allure (6 night in JS) was a result of a FCC from a cancelled trip (5 nights balcony) on Independance. We love the JS, but werent able to justify it again until we received that FCC. So to go from an expected 5 points, to the 24 we received (6x2 for JS, x2 for promotion) was simply wonderful.

I think we have been incredibly fortunate with the Double Points offers. It was an incredibly astute move by Royal to offer it. I wish more had been as fortunate.

My own feeling is it will remain that much of a jump too. If Royal were to (say) make the gap 50 points, it would I think be unfair to those who already made it to Diamond+

Very similar yes. We did our last cruise as Platinum, the next one as Emerald, and the one I havent booked yet as Diamonds. In and of itself, its not the most important thing in the world. But we really do want to feel we have achieved something out of the debacle that was the last 2 years. Besides, its a bit of harmless fun. I doubt we will make Diamond + till I am well into my dotage though.

For sure Diamond status will come in useful when I book our 25th anniversary cruise. The official date is 12/10/2023, but likely we will celebrate any time between 12/01/23 and 03/31/2024. It will be first cruise for example where we dont have the DBP. There will be plenty of other opportunites for booze.

Easiest way is simply to specify the choice. eg: A lava flow with "Kraken Rum" or a "Pussers" Painkiller Bonus Question 1: Rum, specifically Pussers Rum, with Kraken as a second alternative. Bonus Question 2: Grog ! 1 oz Lime Juice 2 oz Pussers Rum 1/2 oz Brown sugar 3 oz Water

Another option here is to take only screw top bottles. Shock, horror, the purists will be irked. However, it does mean you dont need a corkscrew and that you can re-seal the bottle without an issue. A fun thing about discovering wine with screw top bottles, is doing the research to find which you prefer to take with you.

Ahhh, thats pretty good news for us then, it means another double helping from Serenade in October. 14 points not the meager 7 we had anticipated.

After what seems like an eternity as Platinum, Sheryl and I really made out like bandits on our latest voyage on Allure. We were already going to profit from having a Junior Suite, with double points our 6 night cruise was to net us 12 points. However, because we satisfied the terms of the (sadly no longer happening) double points offer. (book by end september 2021, sail by end of march 2022 I think) that was doubled up to 24 points. The result was to pole vault us high into the Emerald level. We now have 73 points. We have a 7 nighter in October on Serenade, and that I believe will take us to Diamond at long last. So, has anyone else managed to benefit from the double points promotion ? It would be interesting to see some positive outcomes

I did exactly that on Allure recently, 5 weeks post op. I was really grateful to be able to lay down in a hot bath too. I should have taken my cooling machine with me, but opted for gel packs instead. Cabin attendant went above and beyond keeping me supplied with ice to chill the gel packs. A life saver.

Given the freeboard (distance from waterline to deck) of Anthem is over 18 decks tall, and she is over 1100ft long it acts very much like a gigantic sail. That being said, much depends on wind direction and berth. The wind could for example assist in berthing. However, I doubt anything under 25knots would be an issue either way. The ultimate decision of course, rests with one man. The Captain. He is responsible for the ship in its entirity so it is his call yay or nay.

Some years ago, we had a last minute panic when we could not find our passports. We were 24 hours from leaving and had no way to get replacements. So we did use the althernatives. For me, naturalization certificate, and birth certificate for Sheryl. Getting on and off the ship, was not an issue as we had the appropriate legal documentation. However, we did feel very uncomfortable the whole time we were outside the USA, and breathed a big sigh of relief when we were allowed back in. Had we needed to disembark, missed the ship, or had any other reason for needing alternative travel, we would have had to jump through hoops to get home. So my thought would be passport, passport and passport. (we eventually replaced ours)

Yes, we do this all the time. Non-Streaming is fine for social media applications, just dont expect to be able to watch any shared videos withouth mahoosive interuptions. Textual content is fine.