jbrinkm

Also, there is not enough room in this blog for me to start listing all the things I have to say about driving in NJ... (WHY do two lanes merge together in the middle of all the lanes with no sign and no warning!!! And WHY is it always another 15 miles from any sign to the Garden State Parkway which is also pointing to the longer way to get to it???)

@Ampurp85 I think your brother has gotten away with one (or more), because kettles are definitely listed as a naughty item: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/sgp/en/faq/questions/are-there-any-prohibited-items-to-bring-onboard My husband and I are coming up on our 24th anniversary, and our gift giving is: I am constantly brainstorming things he would like and thoughtfully buying them throughout the year, whenever I see something or think of something. Not usually big-ticket items, but things he wouldn't buy for himself. However, representative of our typical gifting pattern, in November, I told him that for my Christmas present, I wanted to see a comedian that I like who was on tour and in our city in January. I told him the event, the date, the time and sent him the link to the website where you buy the tickets. In mid-December, I mentioned how excited I was to go and see the show - and he said, "oh. where do I get those tickets again?" So I ended up buying them for myself. Luckily, I don't feel slighted. Gift giving is my love language but not gift receiving. I also just bought myself the smart ring I asked him for 5 years ago and I'm still waiting for the e-scooter I wanted 2 years ago...

No worries, it was a long shot! My show reservations already opened and I already booked so no need for anything (for me at least) anymore. Thanks!

Oh my goodness @Vlad! You seem to have the worst luck with Royal billing!! Didn't it take you forever to get your BF refunds?

From your prior recommendation:

I think you have to have a link to get it to play within the post, which would mean uploading it somewhere else and then using the link. I tried a few things that didn't work (I would get the larger screen temporarily but it kept converting back to just being an attachment after a second). After trying that, I searched for whether you could get videos to play on the Invision platforms and it looks like that is not a feature.

It uploaded - it is just not embedded so we have to download it to watch it, but it is there! And WOW, I've never seen a pool do that before. It's like another FlowRider

Yes! I remember practicing Lost in Your Eyes over and over on the piano so I could play it - I love it so much. Mine was Morrisey, although he is still recording so I don't know if that dates me... I recently went to see The Cure with a friend from high school - it was very nostalgic.

Years and years ago, my husband and I were assigned to a 10 person table for dinner - 3 other couples and a lady by herself. Over the course of the sailing, it comes out that she is (hush hush) engaged to our head waiter (who could have been fired for fraternizing with the guests). She met him on a cruise - we didn't get details about how their romance developed - she would cruise to see him and then they got engaged.

Great @OCSC Mike!! I was doing the same thing - I tried to figure it out ahead of time but the actual show times were nothing like what I anticipated. I'm on Symphony for an 8 night. Symphony right now is alternating the 6 night and the 8 night. All of the other 8 nights recently have Aruba first and Labadee last, but mine has Labadee first and Curacao last. However, it seems that they left the show schedule the same as the reverse order itinerary, not the show schedule from the last time they did my itinerary order. So I had picked out my show times by looking at older compasses but they just went with the same order they had been using and I was scrambling to figure it out. It seems like they do most of those random headliners towards the end of the sailing so I tried to frontload my shows during the first few days.

I could NOT figure out which reaction to use here - what a roller coaster (literally and figuratively!) so I ended up with just "like" but wished I could add every reaction available to this post. My husband who grew up by the ocean always says that the day after a hurricane is the most beautiful day imaginable. I'm also a +1 for the 90's music!! I also love 70s and 80s but, as mentioned, those get a lot of play. There are a lot of GenX-ers/pre-vintage on these ships now!

Just checked in and the earliest available was 11:30am. Also had a horrible time with the app - it wouldn't load at all. I ended up restarting my phone, logging in and out, and reinstalling the app before I finally got in.

I love this imagery of Oasis taking care of her little sister

Do you have that new AI customer service chat on the app?

You can do everything else later if you just grab the check in time for everyone on the app as soon as it opens. You can choose the times for each person and then wait until the next day or later to put in all the rest of the information.

If you kind of squint or unfocus your eyes, it looks like the Bat signal on the ceiling

I'm really curious about the photo question. Would love people to continue to chime in if they get the Express boarding and if anyone does NOT have a photo uploaded, or if anyone gets through even with a rejected/retake photo, etc.

There's like a glamour, and the decor is all elevated. Decadent lounger cushions, etc.

Oooo, I like that... may steal! I anticipate that they will be stolen, but I got some of these little magnet guys. I thought they would be fun.

If you were looking to buy some airtags for an upcoming cruise, they are on sale at several places right now for $79.99. Looks like $20 off the regular price.

Oh, that's a shame... I was going to send my parents over there while we do the adventure stuff, and then join them for lunch when we're done. Does it have the best water entry of all the Labadee beaches? I've heard that other beaches have rocks and/or slimy weeds. What if they get there early? Would you say it is the loungers that get really crowded, the water, or both?

Oof, I just looked at bungalows for my upcoming March sailing and they were $583 - before they sold out.

Are you driving the day before the cruise? If you are staying in a hotel, could you try to do a 'stay & cruise' option and park there during your sailing?

3/23/24 - Symphony

Show reservations became available today!