FireFishII

18 hours ago, Montemy2419 said:

Do you happen to watch "The Weekend Cruiser" on YT ?  He sticks to just the smaller ships and lives in Florida so he is gone almost every weekend.  I have learned a lot from him and that is why we are on Liberty of the Seas next month.  Since we have to fly in I was only looking at 7 day or longer cruises and Brandon on his channel explained about linking together several 3 or 4 day cruises.  I had never considered doing that and since Liberty only does the short cruises we thought that looked like a fun ship.  We have been on Freedom,Adventure and loved them.  Smaller ships are fantastic and I think in about 15-20 years they will be running sales on the larger ships because they can't fill them.

I did not know that.  I will look Brandon up tonight.  Thanks!  The idea of 2 BTB short cruises makes a lot of sense.  I too fly in.

@Ampurp85 - I use Microsoft Paint and scribble over the face.  Save the new pic and post that one. 

13 hours ago, Montemy2419 said:

We are booked for the first time on Celebrity next year and if we are impressed then we may cruise on  RC for only family trips.  When it's just us I think Celebrity may be the type of ship we are interested in for relaxation.

It is funny you mentioned this.  I was thinking of going on the smaller/older RCL ships for just my husband and I and using the larger/newer ships for family trips.

Sorry but it can happen at any time - even after you are on the ship.  

They are lifting the Ultimate Abyss up so they can dust underneath it. LOL!

I know that this is not what you are looking for but I found this:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-deals/last-minute-cruises

42 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

J gave up the ghost on her lemongrass martini from our dinner in 150 CP, so somehow i wound up with both of them...

I call that a 2 fisted drinker. 

My husband and I went on a cruise with another couple.  To save on parking, we drove to their house the night before our flights and drove to the airport in their car.  Since we were using different airlines, the plan was for us to be drop off first, for our friends to park their car, and go to another terminal. We got up at o-dark 30 in the morning. As we piled into our friend's car, I asked my husband if he had the black bag (ie: the bag with our passports).  He said, yes, right here.  When we got to the airport, as we were getting out of the car, I asked my husband for the black bag.  He handed me the toiletry bag, which was also black.  CRAP!  Change of plans!  Fortunately, our flight was not for another 3 hours.  So, using our friend's car, we dropped our friends off at their terminal, drove ALL the way back to their house (~1+ hour), grab the important black bag (that had been left in the bedroom, drive all the way back to the airport, part the car, and ran thru the terminal to catch our flight.

The only good thing about this story.  On our way to the airport the first time, we passed the Boston Garden - which was in the process of being dismantled, vertical slice at a time. I said I wished I had my camera out because it would have made for a great picture.  The second time, on our way to the airport, I got my picture! 

I just started Duolingo for my summer trip to Italy.  What language are you learning? 

I agree that the shore excursion desk could have done a better job reaching out to people.  At a minimum, they could have had a sign about the cancel shore excursion at the gang plank.  

16 hours ago, Tazzy said:

Interesting topic - I've been considering this myself on a cruise later this year. My husband and son are certified divers and I'd like to get certified, too, and it seems like a good use of time to do it during a cruise since my time at home is so jam-packed. And we live in a landlocked state and watching my teenage son do his in a crappy local pool and in a freezing cold rock quarry did not look appealing in the least. My question here is, there's a mention of advanced divers heading out with the cruise group that's doing their certification open-water dives. That would work well for me if at least my husband and son were in roughly the same area, doing their own thing, diving, while I did my certification stuff at port. Is that possible? 

I did not get my certification on a ship but I have done "shore excursions" thru a ship. Yes, I was in a group of beginners, taking lessons.  While we traveled together to the dive shop, we were split up during the dive.  I think it would be a great experience for your family. If for no other reason than you can join them on your next cruise.  

I would recommend that you contact the RCCL dive shop directly with your questions.  Their email address is royaldiver@rccl.com.

On 3/15/2023 at 9:36 AM, chussey07 said:

3) I know a little about RoyalUp but not much about the rooms themselves... would upgrading to an oceanview or balcony room really give us much more space?

One thing to remember about the RoyalUp program, is the price you bid is per person - for the first two.  This means if you were to bid $100 to be upgraded to a balcony, you will be paying $200 if you win the bid.  

The present prices are $429/Interior, $450/Outside view, and $629/Balcony.  Ha, but when I went to do a mock booking, I found even lower prices if RCL picks your room and higher prices if you pick your rooms.  Interesting.  

If any of those prices are within your budget, I would call your TA or RCL and asked for the upgrade now instead of waiting for RoyalUp. 

On 3/22/2023 at 4:50 PM, SweetPea said:

I was also reading that they claimed the eMuster was tying up more personnel than the in-person muster. I've not done an eMuster yet, so I'm trying to understand that argument.

This makes sense if you think about it.  Instead of having some crew members tied up for the 30-60 minutes to check people in and perform the muster drill, the eMuster is tying up some crew members for many hours as they stand around, waiting for passengers to show up. 

With this new game - are we limited to finding only our own unfinished bottles of wine? If that is the case, I will need to quit now because I never have an unfinish bottle of wine to follow me. LOL!

21 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

So it's basically a cheesy reverse french toast?

Maybe if you close one eye and squint. Why: Not enough breading and no cinnamon. But other than that - why yes!  LOL

It sounds like Bard hit it on the head.  The only thing missing are the pictures. 

I had to look up that recipe.  Basically, shirred eggs are baked in a buttered ramekin, floating in cream, and topped with salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese.  Topped with garlic breadcrumbs, chives, or scallions.  Baked at either 325 or 375 degrees for 11 to 15 minutes.  Sounds good.  I may try this on Saturday. 

Here is a question and its answer may help @Skeeve Stevens make a decision:

If @Skeeve Stevens brings his robo dog and his StarLink dish on board and it ends up in the 'Naughty' room, would RCL just keep those items until the end of the cruise?  This way, at least the dog and dish would be stored in a safe location and @Skeeve Stevens can pick them up when he exits. The only pain would be carrying both items all the way to the cruise ship and not be allowed to use them.   

29 minutes ago, CJS2766 said:

Curious? What is the difference in the Coastal Kitchen vs the MDR? I know the CK is for suite guests only, but is the menu vastly different??

I think the main difference is that the food in CK is not mass produced like MDR.  So the food will just taste better. 

7 hours ago, Summer Bee Sweet said:

I pass out loads of snack size Kit Kats (with cash) at meals and for beverages. I being a few full size bars too.

I have heard that Kit Kats are extremely popular in Japan.  So any crew member from Japan would LOVE to get a Kit Kat bar.

The luggage tags will be in your edocs. I found this on the RCL website: 

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Here is a bidding piece of advice: whenever you want to bid the minimum, go the minimum plus a little bit extra.  A lot of people will try for a minimum bid. But if you are just a few bucks more, you will be in better shape to win. Good luck!

19 minutes ago, DDaley said:

 all underwater (snorkel/dive/glass bottom) Royal excursions were canceled due to low visibility. 

You got to be kidding me!  Canceling diving for low visibility!  Obviously, they have never tried diving in New England, where visibility of 20' is considered good.  

Good for you on your carry-on luggage success!  I will need to try that on my next Caribbean trip. I love a good bloody mary in the morning. 

I love that bird doing the splits.  

My brother just got an offer for a free cruise which he will be using this Sept. It will be an Alaskan cruise.  He was just mentioning that the shore excursions were wicked expensive.  So he may be doing his own thing in the ports.  A helicopter ride to a glacier is on his bucket list but he can't afford the cost of over $500.  I asked if he wanted company on the cruise.  LOL!  

Have fun on your cruise.  I hope you make some great new friends in the MDR.   I will be following along.