WAYNO

We've done drinks and snacks at Margaritaville in Falmouth. Popular spot, but I never noticed there was a shortage of tables or seating. And it is a very good choice for a place to sit, take it all in, and do mostly nothing.

Your trip will not be ruined. Ships get rained on regularly and life goes on wonderfully.

My wife gets on Harmony with her brother in two days, (Sunday). None of the normal local venues any longer offer a two-day covid test, so now the profiteering starts. We found a place that guarantees a two-day test, for only $130 each. We do what we must do.

And I did a screenshot of just the seapass, hit print, and voila!

I grab a plate, a bundle of clean silverware, and set it on a table. If I pass the drink station, I grab a drink to put on the table also. Makes it fairly obvious the table is taken. Then I go load up on food. And it does happen... Go to get seconds, (or thirds) and come back to another family at my table. There's not always a way to keep your table staked out, without leaving something personal. No big deal. It always works out, and we laugh. And we make new friends.

I agree too, it's a nice beach, and with the lounge/umbrella vendors, it's really easy. I'm not normally a beach person, but I did accompany my wife and cousins to this beach, spending some actual time there. And I enjoyed it. I've been to all the cruise ports in Florida, and Cocoa Beach is my favorite. What's not to love?

Us too. We love cruising, but it's that much better when somebody joins us.

In the U.S., most of the cruise ports are on the East Coast or deep South. From the West Coast, that could be a 5 hour flight, but problem is, there are few non stop flights. So, it's not unusual for us to have to fly 5 hours to New York, Washington DC, or many other airports, just to switch planes and fly 3 or 4 more hours to Florida. With layovers, it's often a 12+ hour day. Compounding that, we're flying against the clock with a 3 hour time zone difference. It's difficult to impossible to leave Portland and get to the cruise ship in time to board, on the same day as the cruise. It requires getting there the previous day, which could still be midnight or later, and sleeping the rest of the night in a motel. But that's what we do. I would also dearly love to cruise in Europe. That's an extreme distance for us, and would require much more travel time and hotel arrangements to make the ship. It's not in our cards soon, but someday we'd love to, and I'm not opposed to it.

We have a placemat-size magnet for our door. It was purchased from another Royal-blog site. @Matt I wish this site would offer them as a mini-fund raiser. Hint Hint. Maybe they already have. I'm new here.

Good question. I have also never used such a person, and only recently did I discover also there's a Diamond Concierge. I went to the Diamond Lounge one time, only to get my Diamond lapel pin. The nice receptionist must have been the Concierge. If Royal thinks there is a need for such employees, I suspect I'm not the only passenger that's never never met them or even know where their "office" is.

Actually, in fairness, she's cruising with her brother. He would never otherwise have cruised on his own, and now he'll have his own personal tour guide. I'm thankful for her opportunity, and one of these days I'll tag along again too. We have endured so many cancellations with cruises, cruise offers, conveniently forgotten promises by Casino Royale, and cancelled travel arrangements over the last couple years, it's easier to now sit back and watch.

And my Wife is on Harmony in 10 days! It just seems, throughout the industry we're hearing about more fender benders. Is it because social media makes such events impossible to hide? Or are the pressures of cutting corners, tight schedules and fuel conservation, as well as staff shortages taking a toll?

Well now, since we're no longer being excellent to one another, I'll add my 2-cents... What Can a Nearly 12-Year Old Do? They can do what most other 11 year olds can do. What Can a Travel Agent Do? Gladly take the money from seniors, really wishing he didn't have to waste his time with them.

I also never knew there was a Diamond Concierge. I suspect there are many folks and services available to different groups on the ship. We might never know they exist until we have a need for a special service.

We are lucky to be in an era where really decent quality optics are available at really affordable prices. If you're on a budget, I would buy a well known, albeit economy brand, such as Bushnell or Nikon. Yes, they're made in Asia, but they can be really decent optics backed by a large company warranty. If you find a choice that you like, hopefully they will be waterproof. If you want to pay slightly more, Leupold offers an imported line of binoculars. They are waterproof and in my experience in the dank and wet Coast Range or Cascade mountains, they hold up well.

Yes, it was a bit run down, and I've found all hotels in the humidity belt to be musty. I found it to be not as bad as others. That's why I said they're all mediocre, regardless of name and/or price.

We've used this outfit multiple times from the airport. I don't remember much about them, so they must've worked out well.

Yes, we fly into MCO. Mostly, when four of us travel together, we've rented a mini-van (Hertz) at the airport, driven to the motel, and the day of the cruise we return the car, where a shuttle is waiting to take us to the ship. We have also shuttled from MCO to the motel, and the motel provided a shuttle to the ship. These places have all made this part extremely easy. Then when the cruise is done, we walked out and paid to get on the same bus to the airport as we could have signed up for on the ship. We now just sign up on the ship for such shuttles.

We have stayed at Coco Beach numerous times, using different motels. What I've discovered, is they're all the same, regardless of how many stars or however known the name is. The differences are location. Most folks prefer a room overlooking the beach, as do I. And the closer to the beach, the higher the price. It's easy to pay $300+ for a mediocre motel with a wonderful view. You can pay more, but the extra return is minimal or non-existent. Personally, I have standardized on... La Quinta Inn & Suites Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, Cocoa Beach and they have a wonderful breakfast buffet.

You received very good advice. My wife has been to Cococay twice, and I've been there once. I don't do the water slides, but I truly love being on the island, watching folks have fun, and kicking back. I would love to be there watching my family have the time of their life. From mild to wild, taking advantage to as much or as little as you'd like, the place is marvelous.

Even on the West Coast, Royal Caribbean cruise ships and destinations are scarce. So, we nearly always have to travel to the East Coast to get on a boat. As said, a day or two to get situated to an Eastern cruise port, and having to arrange covid proof as you're traveling, makes me appreciate very much the scarcity of cruises Down Under. I also understand this is what we do, to do what we love. I'm envious of the folks who can drive to a port in short order. I would be on a ship far more regularly than I am now.

I also get all wound up counting the days until our next cruise. And I try to not get sucked into or add to the Debbie Downer posts of how bad the food, service, or staffing issues is/are. It is what it is, it's never as bad as professed, and my cruises always turn out marvelously. BTW... In 16 short days, my Wife boards Harmony with her brother. (I wasn't invited), but even I am counting the days in anticipation of what I know will be a wonderful time for them. And packing for an Alaskan cruise is easy. Jeans and other outdoorsy clothes for me. High fashion is out the window. I am excited for you!

How 'bout a big door-magnet with their name and a cruise theme. We were given one with our names, and there's room to sharpie-in each cruise. It resides on our refrigerator door between cruises.

Always the early dining slot, 5-5:15-ish. Then we have time for the evening shows.