Atricks

There is a SpaceX Falcon 9 (Starlink 4-22) launch scheduled this Sunday morning at 10:20 at Kennedy Space Center, so heads up for folks getting in (either to watch, or be prepared for some extra traffic coming in)

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches-and-events/events-calendar/2022/july/rocket-launch-spacex-falcon-9-starlink-4-22

Just booked this one because of Kids Sail free without even realizing it was the group cruise.  This is going to be the third! cruise Matt and co will be on that we're on purely by coincidence.   We're also going on Mariner for the May 28th Bermuda cruise which will get us to Diamon, so two in a relatively short period on the same ship is new for us.  The July 17th one will be the first as Diamond members.   Last was Wonder of the Seas (2nd sailing00Ran into Matt at Adventure Ocean dropoff and wound up in the same elevator after), and Odyssey back in September.  But neither was a real "group" cruise. 

Promenade Parades returning soon?

2 hours ago, Longhorn Cruiser said:

Looks like Wonder is leaving today for a 2 day cruise to Coco Cay.  Anyone on it?

 

That would be a surprise for those on Freedom tomorrow, it's the only ship scheduled to be there, so Wonder could also dock if they need to.  Anyone on Freedom be on the lookout tomorrow.   Right now it swapped to the terminal next to 18 in Ft. Lauderdale while Vision of the Seas is there hanging out, maybe swapping crew?

This is a good thing, one of the perks about working on a cruise ship has been seeing the world, and visiting the ports being on there so long without it takes its toll.   In general if the crew is happy, so are the guests.

It's getting very close to the halfway point between Cadiz and Ft. Lauderdale.  

40 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

FEBRUARY 11 - 8:00AM EST - Wonder is in the Atlantic Ocean, south of Portugal

That looks like the last T-AIS (Terrestrial Automated Identification System) (About 11-12 hours old), make sure the tracking site works with S-AIS (Satellite), the more recent satellite position is well west of there. 

Most of the free only show T-AIS and Satellite positions are behind a pay wall, I think Cruisemapper still shows sat positions though.

You can see the ore-inagural schedule now.  At first when I read the heading I was thinking a Grateful dead cruise would be kinda cool, but it's not quite that.

Beyond that it's inspections in Ft. Lauderdale, a shakedown/adjustment cruise. and a "2 night trade event & naming cruise".  (aka media/travel agents)

Harmony is in Labadee right now.

Bridge Delivery Ceremony setup:

9 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

How long ago was this released?

Yesterday afternoon

https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1577/new-southern-restaurant-and-bar-headlines-royal-caribbeans-culinary-lineup-on-wonder-of-the-seas/

It's now on the deck plan https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/wonder-of-the-seas/deck-plans/2230/15

Got this email about Wonder in the past few minutes (And we're booked on the March 11th Wonder sailing)  There is also no mention of March/April here.  I think the vlogger the original posted mentioned is Parodeejay from their last live stream.

This rumor wound up being true, see the main page on this site  https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/01/19/royal-caribbean-will-offer-southern-food-restaurant-wonder-of-the-seas

The description makes me think more of this http://www.homecominkitchen.com/ than Cracker Barrel.  Portside BBQ reminded me a lot of 4 Rivers.  This and the main theater show have yet to be announced even though the first sailing is 7 weeks out.

This is the older article that mentions the rumor from October 12th.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/10/12/royal-caribbean-registers-new-trademarks-possible-southern-united-states-restaurant

The Wonder deck plan has the generic "Specialty Restaurant" labeled on the starboard side (inside of portside BBQ on the oasis).  It also has WIndjammer on deck 15 where it's on 16 on all the other oasis ships.  (15 on the others is where the mini golf and sports court are.)  Is wonders aft (mini golf and sports court) really going to be one deck higher than the rest?  Aft on deck 15 on the deck plan looks just weird compared to the other oasis ships or I just never noticed it until now.   Mason Jar would definitely be a big pivot from the Asian plans for Wonder.

edit:

Looked at the render/videos again, yep Windjammer is one deck lower and split.  The Flowrider and Playscape sinks down from Deck 16 to 15, which is reverse of the other ships.  Minigolf and the sports court are above the Windjammer, which is further back and split down the middle by the boardwalk gap.

Symphony is still sitting at Miami at 9:15pm, any new updates from there?   (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JsukEu2pc4)

Edit: started to move out at 9:30pm.

Just got this email from Royal:  (We leave Sunday on Allure)

This past weekend was the first weekend children 5-11 could officially be fully vaccinated and sail.  I'm looking for any first hand reports of what the differences were on boarding and on board (Shows, Kids Club, etc).

We have a sailing with one on the 19th (Allure) and there's things like, no way to upload the vaccine card in the royal app for her, and getting emails about the at port test.  However the instructions say she'll be treated as vaccinated.  (So we're doing the antigen at the same time we are).  

I've heard people not having a problem getting on board with that so far, but what I haven't heard anything about is:

Any changes with Adventure Ocean for them (particularly with time block limits) ?    What about booking "V" only shows with the app?  I have a strong suspicion you won't be able to without going to guest services (just based on the vax card upload issue since my programmer brain says, that's just an age check)  

We did Odyssey in September but that sailing had few enough kids the capacity wasn't an issue in AO.  But I know the 19th cruise is probably going to be loaded.

In the current covid lineup MSC's kids club (Dorimiland - Think  Do Ri Me Fa Sol La Si Do for pronounciation) currently has the most going on and the most generous with time slots (6-11PM).  It might change if restrictions lift on the other lines.

1 hour ago, Snotarni said:

Do you have a "go-to" recommendation for a Sloth's tour in Roatan?  Looks like Royal's Shore Excursion to the Sloths is sold out for our cruise.  Thanks!

We booked the beach + sloths from  https://www.boddentours.com/roatan-tour-excursion-availability   (Victor's Monkey & Sloth Sanctuary) based on a friend's recommendation (Wonder of the Seas March 11th)  but the other one we looked at was Daniel Johnson's sloth tours which was also mentioned.  (The RC ones were sold out on that)

12 minutes ago, Jeanne said:

We just had priced window room for two $138331.64

Does that include gratutities and port fees?

On 10/9/2021 at 9:16 AM, Taylor2112 said:

Where can this port pass be purchased? On the ship? I’m travelling in November with kids under 12. 

Cruise Planner, under Costa Maya Excursions, referred to as "Port Pass to The Aviary" on my next one (Which is Wonder of the Seas on March 11th)   This is the same port pass we used on Odyssey's Sep 5th sailing.  (We haven't gotten anything for March yet as we want to wait a bit to see if any changes happen by then)

Port Pass to the Aviary

Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico

Duration: 1 hour

On 10/9/2021 at 9:16 AM, Taylor2112 said:

Where can this port pass be purchased? On the ship? I’m travelling in November with kids under 12. 

Cruise Planner, under Costa Maya Excursions, referred to as "Port Pass to The Aviary" on my next one (Which is Wonder of the Seas on March 11th)   This is the same port pass we used on Odyssey's Sep 5th sailing.  (We haven't gotten anything for March yet as we want to wait a bit to see if any changes happen by then)

Port Pass to the Aviary

Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico

Duration: 1 hour

5 hours ago, jticarruthers said:

Construction is visible along the side of the expressway between Port Canaveral and Orlando ... will be interesting to see how frequently the trains run, etc. Might be an option to drive over from Tampa, do a disney day and then train down to Miami.

They had a train on the new track last week, delivering rail to expand it from that point  It's pretty amazing when you realize each rail runs the entire length of all the cars and bends along with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHMKfRuJGA0