Geezer Of The Seas

The 866 number is the customer service number for the office of Hell n' Wait. Want customer service? Go to Hell n' Wait.....................a long, long, long time. I gave up after 30 minutes yesterday.

Is that a general customer service number or reservations only? Were you on hold less than the rest of your natural life?

Guess the 4th O' July 'sale' overwhelmed Royal and their vaunted IT department...........or something. Mid afternoon Thursday, I took the e-mail bait and checked the blowout sales items (tongue in cheek) for our January '24 5 day on Mariner. Purchased an excursion for Cozumel, one dinner for Jamie's Italian, and the refreshment package. All incrementally cheaper than the last time I looked. Went to the cart to complete and submit the order and..............crickets. After about 3 minutes the page changed to say Royal couldn't complete the payment transaction and to call them to 'sort it out' (Oh, Gawd, not THAT!!!! ) Strangely, the purchases are still in the CP cart, but Chase shows a pending charge against the card I used. No purchase confirmation e-mail from Royal to this point. I'll give them another 24 hours to sort it out and see if the charge actually posts to our Chase card. In the meantime, I'm sure as hell not hitting the purchase button in the CP cart again. Chase problem or Royal problem, we shall see.........

Darwin............. First cruise ever on Mariner, I got a couple great photos of sunrise over the Atlantic from our balcony. Had to do some pretzel like contortions against the divider, but none involved hanging off the side of the ship. Also got a great photo of three other ships off to our northwest heading back to Canaveral at 430 am on the last morning. Just a bunch of lights but pretty breathtaking for an old fart with insomnia that had never seen such a sight.

Hard pass on selfie sticks. The mindless hordes on Wonder livestreaming themselves were both annoying and the height of inconsiderate. Just not into self absorbed that much.............

Local media in Orlando while updating story, now reporting after initially quoting the Coast Guard saying the patient required no further medical evaluation, the passenger requested transport to a hospital at the next port call.............. Three things come to mind: Deck 10 is a fair piece up over the water (had a stateroom there on our first cruise). Seems that would have hurt from the moment of splashdown, especially if it wasn't a controlled entry. Dialing for dollars, anyone? Will chain link fencing replace glass wall "rails" on cruise ships? This particular activity seems to be occurring with increasing frequency on sailings from American ports.

Think the woman and her party will be put off the ship at the next port call? I'm one of those anal retentive folk that reads the cruise contract. I distinctly remember reading no sitting or standing on railings is in the rules. She broke the rules, impaired or not. Probably captured on security video, if she did it once, what's to stop her from doing it again? At a minimum, she should have booked a trip on Carnival....................

I've seen that face before, but can't recall where. Post office? On an FBI wanted poster??

What is your friend's state of residence? If that state uses Vitals Chek service, they can obtain an 'official' copy long form birth certificate that is cruise line friendly. If you indicate the birth certificate is being requested for a passport application, the certificate issued will also meet US State Department passport application requirements. Florida uses Vitals Chek. Both my wife and I had non-compliant birth certificates (etched on stone tablets and other deficiencies). Wife got her official Florida birth certificate in less than a week. As a Michigan native, mine took a bit longer. When I received it, there were errors on it ( father's name). Called Michigan Vital Statistics and explained. They apologized, instructed me to return the incorrect certificate to them. They FedEx'd corrected copies back. Less than 14 business days start to finish.

RCL does not have shipboard laundry facilities for passenger use. Carnival does. On 7 day or longer cruises, Royal has offered a $34.99 special (loads of savings promotion) about midpoint of the trip. Whatever you could fit in the bag, wash & fold only. We took advantage of it on Jewel (8 night Southern Caribbean trip last November). On our 7 day trip on Wonder this past April, for whatever reason it wasn't offered.

What gave away they were counterfeits? The name on the dial read "Rolodex"? One of my fire station assignments when I was working covered the International Drive area between Wet & Wild (RIP) and the Orange County Convention Center. US Customs & Border Protection had a cottage industry going in that area with routine surprise search and seizure operations of all those strip center gift shops that festooned that section of I-Drive. Everything from counterfeit watches, to Levis and other 'designer' merchandise hauled off in rental trucks. Then there were the little kiosks selling outright fake 'discount' theme park tickets or timeshare hustlers peddling partially used passes bought from visitors that for whatever reason didn't use the full value of the multi-day pass.............

No truer words ever spoken. Our first cruise ever on Mariner, we went into the Effy store on the last night. Wanted to get something to commemorate the trip and get our grandson some ear studs. Wife got the free charm bracelet in another shop and bought charms to add to it. I was interested in an anchor and neck chain, until the salesperson revealed the price. I politely declined and then was treated to car salesperson like pressure. Stood my ground and walked. The manager appeared and the $1795 anchor/chain suddenly became less than $800, and the ear studs we selected became $70 less than tag price. Got my souvenir, we're good from now on. Wife only checks on charms to add each trip.

Dunno, but it always makes me think of the Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" Talk about headscratchers............ OTOH, Daniel Craig was my favorite Bond along with Sir Sean Connery, but I digress......

I'm sticking with my personal favorite, Kohl's of the Seas. I swear RCL adopted Kohl's pricing, sales and discount strategy............

Never mind academics. Is the football team any good?

In a fit of 'why did I get up at 630 am for no reason', fired up the Keurig and looked at the hurricane center satellite imaging page. Was immediately drawn to the infrared image loop. Wow, there's dry air being drawn into it and quite a lot, along with distinct west to east wind displacing the weather there is from the center. Can't become a hurricane like that.................

Could be itinerary change, could be a cruise to nowhere, could be nothing at all. Risk of sailing in Atlantic Basin hurricane season, which we opt not to do. It is kinda early in the season for a Cape Verde storm; they typically develop in mid August through mid to late October. Emphasis on typically........ If you want dispassionate info. on a named storm, may I suggest the National Hurricane Center website (nhc.noaa.gov) & NOT any electronic media outlet, television and cable network channels specifically. They all parrot the NHC info with heavy embellishment because eyeballs on TV's & clicks on websites are what they're in business for. Remember the old TV news adage "If it bleeds it leads".

We know less than nothing about table games, slightly more about slots, and generally buy Powerball & other Lotto tickets for their value as bookmarks cuz we sure as hell don't win anything. That said, a tip of the hat to Wonder's penny slots when we sailed. Donated $50 between us to the bottom line and came out ahead $6.41. Diamond Jim and Jenny we ain't.......... (but was a fun hour or so).

Along the same theme, we did a "why not" reservation for 3 day Nassau/Coco Cay trip on Rhapsody Thanksgiving weekend from Ft. Lauderdale. Reserved the much revered beach bed at Breezy Bay, and nothing else. Refreshment package has fluctuated between $31.99 & $33.99 pp/pd. Nope. The Key which we would never do anyway was $42.99 pp/pd when I looked. Hellllllllllllllll NO! Dining, similar story. Internet $17.99 pppd. I'm thinking Wi-Fi on Rhapsody given its age is probably tin cans and strings everywhere, at best probably not as good as newer ships regardless of who's providing the satellite service. It's only a 3 day cruise, perfect time to stick the phones in the safe........... Except for the beach bed, it shall be an a' la carte cruise for us.

But the World's Most Interesting Man............was! Stay Thirsty My Friend!

Why did Dos Equis ever end that ad campaign?

Tongue in cheek response. By your avatar, I'm guessing you're from the Midwest (Iowa)? Confederate Jasmine is a prolific vine plant that grow like crazy in the Southeast and extremely well in Florida. Incredibly fragrant blooms when it flowers. If it could grow on Wonder, it would cover the trellises in Central Park PDQ.

Not extensive experience, but ate freshly fried conch fritters from a food truck outside the John Watling distillery in Nassau last year and some kick butt Caribbean style wings at Chef John's inside the port at St. Thomas in this past April, no problem. What was frustrating: the bus tour of St. Maarten we took the day before St. Thomas passed a bazillion roadside vendors selling jerk chicken and didn't stop at any of them. PS: The conch fritters in Nassau were out of this world.

You don't mention what ship you are sailing or cabin class, but in April on Wonder we received an e-mail from Guest Services (form e-mail, check the boxes, something along those lines) asking our preferences, about 7-14 days prior to embarkation date. E-mail stated the info would be passed on to Housekeeping. We were booked in a junior suite, but as stated, touch base with cabin steward on embarkation day or travel agent prior to sailing if that's how you booked the trip.

The pool deck noise (DJ parties epecially) funnels down into Central Park without question, but we found it more than tranquil enough to suit us, especially in the evening. Late afternoon wasn't bad, just a bit warm. Our favorite areas of Wonder were: 1. The Solarium, 2. Central Park. The beauty of the area and the Trellis Bar were huge factors. Suggested to my wife we donate the 2 Confederate Jasmine plants we have at home. They are both potted since we live in an apartment complex but were well on their way to enveloping the building before the annual pressure cleaning. Trimmed them back, put them on trellises to 'train' them. If they can take pool chlorine pressure washing maybe they can handle the environment in Central Park.