FSUFAN

First day in, I asked the cabin attendant for 3 things. A corkscrew, a feather pillow and a fan. She wasn't sure about the fan. But came through with all three. I gave her a nice tip and much thanks, then extra at the end too.

Last sailing, I used a 1 to 3 adapter that I got from Dollar Tree. I have a USB charger with a USB cable that has a 1 to 4 pig tail. Micro USB, usb-c, and 2 iPhone firewire connections. I have less than $10 for the whole setup.

In Florida I think that you get fined for wearing a mask. Lol Even when masks were required by federal law, Florida officials were filing lawsuits to prevent the requirement.

We may be a little over the top, but years ago, the big deal on cruise ships was Norovirus (and it still flares up). We still (and did) bring Lysol/Clorox wipes and the first thing we do in our rooms is to wipe down all knobs, switches, drawer pulls, tv remote, balcony chairs and railing, bathroom faucet, you name it. If a hand would have potentially touched it, it gets wiped. Takes just a few minutes.

We sailed on the Voyager OTS the last week of October. Mrs Fan and I wore a mask pretty much anytime we were moving around the ship. But I would say the percentage of people using masks was <5%. Once we sat down at a table, or if we were sitting in a corner of a bar, the masks came off. I caught a raging head cold somewhere between the last day or two on the ship or on the flight home (figuring 2-3 days of incubation). Not Covid (tested negative twice). I'll keep wearing my mask when in crowds or shopping around town. My choice. Also, we are vaxed and triple boosted with the latest variant. The Flu is raging here in Middle Tennessee. So much so that they shut down the county schools for two days last week. A couple of neighboring counties are shutting down for a few days this coming week.

My Financial Advisor hates me buying cruise stocks. She considers them too volatile and kind of "junk" status. But I have a set amount of "play" money that I am able to make buys like RCL holdings. I have a HAL cruise in August. Might buy CCL since it is under $10. Again, I'm not a financial expert by any means. Any advice from me is just a best guess.

Does RCL security have keys for TSA approved locks? They are available on Amazon. Basically a lock with a combination and a key that TSA can use if they want to look inside your bag.

I bought an Invicta Pro Diver on Amazon during the last Black Friday type sale. Paid $34 for it. It's fine. I saw them on the ship but didn't ask about the price but figured they were north of $100. I will never figure out buying anything on the ship. I can buy booze on sale at the local liquor store, when on sale, cheaper. And when I lived in Florida, Costco liquor crushed everything. Here in TN, screwy liquor laws keep the prices up. I still travel back to Florida to see friends. I always hit Costco liquor and usually bring back a few boxes of various liquor. Whisky, vodka, rum, tequila, scotch and more for myself and friends. Name brand stuff and Kirkland brand.

I had booked the Quantum to Alaska for our group (4 Balcony cabins). Chose all upper decks 10-12. Then I read someone saying that due to the overhang, the sun was partially blocked on the upper deck balconies, and it was cold sitting out on the balcony with so much shade. I got my travel agent to move all cabins down to decks 7 and 8. Similar location, but a few decks lower. Might make a difference, might not, but I did not want to take any chances. It was early enough that there was no trouble moving cabins to lower decks.

^^^This^^^ Get your paper out and put it in a pocket or purse before you even get in line. I live in a rural area and shop at a local grocery store that is small. Hate to broad brush anyone, but the elderly women stand in line while their groceries are being scanned, then at the end start shuffling thru their purse looking for a checkbook. UGGGHHHH! Get things out prior to getting in line (or waiting for your groceries to be scanned).

I bought in the low $40s for the OBC. It rolled down to the upper $30s and now as mentioned in the low $50s. It is not an investment for me. It is not a Buy-n-Hold stock. It was money that I could afford to spend and not worry about. If it runs up and I see a good profit, I will most likely sell. If I can make $2,000, then that is OBCs for 20 sailings. The entire travel market is very volatile. Covid type stuff, recession, inflation, housing - basically anything that can eat into digressionary spending is trouble.

I get the angst from a person who viewed the Solarium as a large part of the experience and are frustrated that there was no pre-notice of its closing. Also, I personally won't "White Knight" for the RCL corporation, but I understand that some people are passionate and loyal. Top Dollar might have been the wrong wording. Hard Earned dollars might better fit. Each dollar I spend is hard earned (even for this guy who is retired). My first sailing with RCL on the Voyager was a disappointment (posted earlier) due to a lot of little failures on the part of RCL. Things just weren't "buttoned up" as I hoped they would be. The cruise was relatively inexpensive in what I saw looking at other trips, so that has tempered some of my anger (you get what you pay for). I am sailing on the Quantum to Alaska next year and spending a lot more money than the VOTS trip. I hope for a way better experience and that I do "get what I pay for".

On our cruise last week we used both WiFi calling and WhatsApp. The people staying at our house and watching the pets were from the UK and we used WhatsApp to communicate with them. They sent pictures of the pets and other information via WhatsApp text. Then we used WiFi calling and texting to talk to our daughter and grandkids. I talked and texted with ease. We had Voom Surf +Stream. It was a trip to Canada and our T-Mobile plan allowed us to call if needed but we just talked and texted (via Wifi) when on the ship.

Quick and easy. Wifi calling while on the ship or anywhere you can get a wifi connection. If your phone doesn't have wifi calling capabilities, get WhatsApp. But you need wifi connection for WhatsApp too.

It depends on the weather too. Going to a cold weather location during shoulder seasons (early spring or late fall), then you have to make sure that you are packing some heavier/thicker warm stuff. @teddy was on the Voyager as were we last week. We dodged the cold weather bullet. I packed for it with raincoat, some thermal shirts, water resistant pants and more. Mrs Fan had to pack here LL Bean duck type boots due to forecasted rain (which we got). So, it took two carry-on bags and a third shared larger check bag that was kind of a wheeled duffel bag for the additional stuff (we flew SWA, so we checked all the bags anyway). Warm weather cruise is much easier (at least for me) to pack. Shorts, T-shirts, bathing suit, and a lot of stuff that packs smaller. Also, I use space bags, Mrs Fan likes the roll-up method. Both seem to work at maximizing space. We've been to Europe several times and always just go with carry-on bags.

We are sailing R/T from Seattle on the Quantum in June (12th) with stops in Sitka, Skagway, Juneau and Victoria. I have not been to Sitka, but I loved the stop in Skagway. In fact, I vetoed another week that my grown kids had chosen when it did not have the Skagway stop. The White Pass and Yukon train ride was really great.

Google is your friend with this. Just Google "liquor stores near me" once you get in port. Or you can Google it now with "liquor stores in Nassau, then click on the map area that shows up and choose one close to the dock area.

Bought a 12 pack of water for the room for the Voyager sailing last week and paid $11.99. I was looking at doing the same for Quantum sailing in June. I look every day (retired with too much time on my hands) Then they listed it in the planner one day last week as "sold out" at the $11.99 price. It was not listed before. Now they are advertising, Evian water, 12 pack for $22.99.

This is off. Sailed Oct 23 thru the 30th. DOD was $11. Soda was $3.50. All fancy cocktails (Manhattan, Old Fashioned type stuff) were $14. Mrs Fan asked for "house: chardonnay and it was always $11.

The "fancy" cocktails are now all $14 (on the Voyager last week). Drink of the day $11. Wine, I think $11. Mimosa and Bloody Mary were both $11 at breakfast. Can of soda was $3.50. Again, all pre-tip

I don't remember the sun being an issue, but I totally understand liking it dark. There is so much to see from the balcony versus heading up to the top decks to see whales and such when they make a sighting announcement. Plus, the trips into the fjords/arms where you can sit in relative comfort. Mrs Fan enjoying her tea from the comfort of our room during a morning visit to (I think) Tracy Arm. This was a Princess sailing.

We are sailing the Quantum in June to Alaska out of Seattle. We just got off of the Voyager and while we had fun, there were too many small problems (in my opinion). I won't be sailing the Voyager (or probably Voyager class ships again). Some of the issues might have been a post pandemic hangover and restart. And I agree that any cruise, on any ship, is better than no cruise and I take these types of articles (click bait) with a grain of salt. This was our first RCL cruise and I hope the Quantum can change my first impressions of RCL.

I wish RCL would add a few simple things to the Key. Maybe a drink coupon for each person. A 6 pack of bottled water in your room. A mimosa at the breakfast. Anyway, they would be niceties that would add value and not cost RCL that much.

We were on the Voyager last week and up in the High Notes Bar (14th floor) work crews were pulling cables and had a section of the seating closed off and tiles pulled from the ceiling. I mean huge thick multi strand bundles. I didn't think much of it. Now I realize that they could have been putting in the Starlink antennas on the roof above. Starlink certainly was not operational during our sailing.

As @teddy mentioned, paper menus last week on Voyager. Plus the Big Board at the entrance. They still have the QR codes at tables in the bars. But it was just a generic bar menu. Didn't have Drink of the Day.