deButler

#1 Retiring 

#2 Disciplined spending on trips/bookings

#3 Wife who likes the slots enough to get constant interior 4/5 night offers that we’ve combined for B2Bs to justify required airfare. (if not going from Galveston)

1 hour ago, FloatyBoaty said:

I think it’s more that the wind is hitting us at 56 knots and causing pretty high seas. 

I stepped out onto our port forward balcony this morning after hearing the wind howling and saw right away what we were literally up against. Stepped inside to check the map position details and saw the same. 
 

Our 2 TA crossings in spring were never anything close this motion. Fortunately I never have had any issues with motion sickness. It’s always fun to watch folks walk around the ship when we’re rocking this much.

1 hour ago, DDaley said:

We stopped by the Red Dog Saloon and tried a Duck Fart shot (as found on the boards) which was pretty delicious. We also had “really expensive shit” drinks and some lunch, the brisket sandwich was our fave.

AMAZING pictures of Juneau!!! It was real treat to finally be out the rain for a bit. My wife enjoyed all of the “End of Season Sales” at every jewelry store in town. 
 

We also stopped in Red Dog for lunch. Enjoyed the piano player. Kept singing the Duck Fart song for your shots. Lots of fun. 

4 hours ago, DDaley said:

@deButler Did you hear any announcements this morning? I have been listening for them! Looks pretty foggy so that must be why we turned back early.  

 

The Captain made an announcement soon after we turned around. I did not catch it at first either. 

Disembarkation was SUCH a mess!! We went in to the Raptor Center and really enjoyed it. Getting transportation though from downtown was a real challenge however. Took 30+ mins to finally hail a cab after just missing the local bus. Evidently there is also only 1 Uber/Lyft driver and she’s a nurse and didn’t get off work til after 10:00. We caught her on our return to downtown from the Raptor Center after she dropped off another fare. REALLY enjoyed seeing the church downtown as well. 

We got our open this week on Quantum. Here’s what it looks like on Quantum. As all have said it’s been super convenient to get back and forth without paying for a connecting room but there is no way to all sit out there together unless you crowd onto only 1 balcony. 

I agree with trivia thoughts. Same questions do tend to repeat. We hit the 80s Trivia in Two70 and 2 groups got ALL 19 artist & titles. The band that played  after was great early on for the RocknRoll session but their sound during the 80s Dance Party wasn't nearly as good. 

Love the Seattle pics!! We’ve enjoyed our 2 days there as well.
 

Our Embarkation was so smooth. Our first visit to a Quantum class ship has not disappointed. Dinner in the MDR was MUCH BETTER than our 2 TAs earlier this year. Looking forward to our sailing and visiting the Alaskan ports. Have a great trip!!

Seattle weather has been amazing. 82 and bright sun all day yesterday. Rainier was on full display. Today and tomorrow seems to be shaping up for similar excellent weather. 60 and 70 degree temps have been SOO relieving. 
 

Safe travels up all !!!  
 

Made it our gate. Next stop Seattle!! Can’t wait to escape our summer long heatwave over 100 degrees. Looking forward to cooler temps and drinks in hand!!
 

Hope everyone has safe travels up to Seattle. See y’all onboard next week. 

Made it to our gate. Next stop 75 degrees. CANNOT wait to get out of this heat. 
 

@DDaley  y’all have a safe trip up. See you onboard hopefully sometime next week. 

We’re closer to Houston but made several trips in/around SA. The Menger Hotel is THE MOST historic/iconic hotel in SA and is across the street from the Alamo. They have amazing lobby & bar that is worth going to see if not staying there. They do have very comfortable accommodations and even programs for kids.
 

Brenner’s or Bohanans steak houses are high end classic steakhouses downtown. Salt Grass is a Landry’s chain with good steaks but not quite the same.  Fogo and TX de Brazil are both Gaucho style red meat overload options downtown as well. 
 

As Teddy said the downtown area is very walkable and enjoyable to stroll all along the riverwalk.  There are plenty of family friendly places now downtown to see/do. 
 

Bandera, the Cowboy capital of Texas, has tons of history and a whole bunch of places to ride horses in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. It’s a quaint little town about an hour drive from Downtown SA. 

9 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Just 1 word of caution.  IF you booked your cruise using a casino offer of ANY kind, and especially if you upgraded a casino offer, the way they calculate cruise fare is bizarre and will never work in your favor.  The 100% refund is what it is… no worries on that BUT the 100% FCC will disappoint you, I promise. Be very careful when seeking an FCC based on a casino upgrade. 

GOOD to Know if we ever find ourselves in this similar situation!!!    Thanks @WAAAYTOOO

@PLOVE  Not many of us here on this cruise? Can’t wait to hit the NE corner of North America after hitting the NW corner next week on Quantum to AK. 

Thanks @deep1   Excellent info. Getting onboard on Monday so can’t wait to see our first quantum class ship after 10 or so trips on all the rest of the classes. 

15 minutes ago, CrznTxn said:

Was on Quantum OTS last week and the Sonic Odyssey show along with Starwater are very good. We were able to sit on the front row of Two70 and the show was literally at my feet. The cast on Quantum and musicians are outstanding.

Great to  hear. Boarding on Monday. Looking forward to finally checking out 270.  

Beats our $20 a day at Galveston. Headed out on Vision in January but will be flying in. Can’t wait to see Baltimore Harbor before. 

I found an exceptional thread on that OTHER Critic Cruising Forum that someone gets feedback continually and tracks which RCL Captains are current on different sailings and has an entire list of the 2 Captains for each of RCL Ships. They do rotate between 2 captains on a 8-12 week rotation depending on schedules, etc.  Not sure posting the direct link is allowed here but you can go there and search “Current Captain” under the Royal Caribbean list of Forum Topics. It has 50+ pages of updates since 2018. 
 

Current There was nothing there for Celebrity however and no postings about Captain Kate mentioning if she was still on Beyond or not.  A person posted they took a picture with her on there back in February. 

After the really long wait we’re finally almost there. Guess it’s about time I’d better start packing. Been watching the weather and it seems very consistent the entire time - 58 degrees with a 58% chance of rain. After not seeing rain for 2 months and 100+ degrees for 45 days in a row I am ready to say these sound like perfect conditions!! 

Look forward to seeing everyone on board. Would love to have a meetup at some point during the trip. See you all in in Seattle in just 1 week. 

@DDaley  Can’t wait to join you on your journey, both figuratively and literally, as we will also be on this same sailing. Like you we booked it last year and with the heat we’ve had here the last 2 months it just couldn’t have gotten here soon enough. Super glad to be heading out in one week. 
 

Hope to get a chance to meet up while onboard. Enjoy the trip!!!

4 hours ago, Doug_Texas said:

I am also on a segment of the World Cruise on the Serenade.  This is a strange and unique cruise in that my segment has only one seating in MDR (my segment is 7:30 only). 

Which segment are you on with only the one seating? We’re doing the final segment Amsterdam to Miami and thought we had an early seating scheduled. 

An Admin should be able to move it for you. 

Following ^^

Ive been wondering if there was a site to track Sr. Crew. We had a BLAST with the Hotel director on Symphony in March during our 12 NT TA and wondered if they move around or do these Sr. officers generally stay put. I’ve heard the Captains rotate between 2 per ship, but generally stayed with their same ships. 

Love the idea of a smaller meetup as well. We did 2 Trans-Atlantics this spring and on the first we did a Scottish/Irish meetup and had a blast getting know a few folks early on. We also did a candy exchange for folks traveling in from abroad to bring their finer chocolates and exchange them for our crummy American chocolate.  

Look forward to meeting everyone. 

On 8/31/2023 at 6:24 AM, OCSC Mike said:

Someone told me there's a specific flavor of Tabasco in the jar rack I HAD to use... and now I forget which one it was, lol. Smoked maybe?

Chipotle flavor hot sauce.  BEST flavor for Tacos or most any Mexican food. It’s Smoked Red Jalapeños. Down here in TX or LA it’s out in most restaurants. Also My “secret sauce” in my Jambalaya as well. 

If you stop in at their Store on Avery Island where it’s made, you can get it by the Gallon