Geezer Of The Seas

I gotta throw this out. Are the art salepseople as over the top as some in Effy Jewlery aboard ships or in port? 

We've had more fun in a car dealership.......

That said, we've never done the art auctions, experience Effy on a ship once and found once was enough.

We just stick to photo purchases to commemorate each sailing, and I've got a thing for ship coffee mugs with logo or embossed photo. Our daughter has threatened us with death if we bring back any more plush toys for our granddaughters, so I kept the little MSC Doremi mascot for us; he proudly sits on the fireplace mantel.......and for some strange reason I love it. 

My favorite YouTube Channel Video folks, in no particular order:

Gary Bembridge (Tips for Travelers)

Harr Travel: (Danny, despite the 6'6" shower rant, safe sizes, and basketball anecdotes).

Royal Caribbean Blog

While none of these are especially itinerary focused, I have learned a lot about cruise lines and specific ships we have sailed.

All are well produced, good quality videos that don't present like some buffoon selling used cars. And none of the nausea inducing cellphone videos on a selfie stick with every other word in the dialog being "BABY"!!!!

Mariner, Feb 2022, first time on any ship. 50% capacity,  a Grand Suite 4 nights for $1800.

Those were the days.......

I voted Voyager Class in deference to Mrs Geezer's love of Mariner (which I very much enjoyed), but I'll give a nod to Radiance Class (Jewel) as well, which I believe was our finest cruise and itinerary (8 nights/ABC Islands).

On 3/10/2025 at 10:14 AM, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

I stand corrected…although when I said not copies I meant photocopies.  Guess I have to be careful how I write my responses!  Better get my technical skills up to par!

My "original" is a what they called I guess, a photostatic copy, handwritten by the doctor. Looks like a photographic film negative.................or a Civil War era photo.

Believe the name of the Branch County, Michigan Registrar that recorded it was Moses.....................

Mrs. Geezer and I both obtained certified, 21st. century copies from our respective states for the passport folks. Think her original was on a stone tablet or something...........

Read the blog column regarding the CDC inspection. In the food service portion, reads like an inspection report from any land based restaurant.  

As far as Adventure Ocean, that's on parents bringing sick children in, just like a daycare on land. Shouldn't happen but does.

And what the hell was the raw eggs and hot sauce in the upholstery shop thing? 

@Safemike1 there's a second option for parking 2 blocks south of terminal 1 and it is about 4 bucks a day less than the official Port Canaveral parking facilities.  Fenced (topped with barbed wire), 24 hour video surveillance and free shuttles to all PC terminals. Making an advance reservation on the website is simple. The reservation is refundable up to 24 hour prior to your embarkation. 

Google portparkingspace port canaveral. 

I've parked there 3 times now, very pleased with the facility and staff.

Another vote for Squaremouth. Have bought 4 policies through same company that had features we considered most important to us (coverage of pre-existing conditions, a decent emergency medical benefit that is primary payor). Robust medical coverage is important to us. Comes at a price due to age, but worth every penny though we have yet to need it (and that's fine with us too!)

Technology, bah! Humbug! The scanner at Lowe's can never read an e-mail barcode for an in store online purchase pickup.

The check in scanner at Labcorp offices struggles to read the barcode when I check in for an appointment. 

Reading boarding pass QR codes from 3 different cruise lines at 2 different ports has been hit or miss.

Give me paper or give me death!!!!!

Only add on spending we've done at Coco Cay has been a' la carte alcoholic drinks & a beach bed at Breezy Bay at Chill Island (the beach beds now have a breathtaking price but my back says damn the torpedoes). 

Tried Chill Grill once, too tumultuous, we're good with Snack Shack grub that's 100 paces away from the beach bed area.  There's always bar service staff circulating to take/serve drink orders.

OUR "Perfect Day"........

On 3/1/2025 at 9:08 AM, RCIfan1912 said:

 The MCS island has intrigued also, looks gorgeous in a much different way from Coco Cay that we truly LOVE. 

We just returned from a 4 day to Nassau & Ocean Cay from PC on MSC Seashore. Ocean Cay is nice, but make no mistake it isn't Coco Cay. If you don't rent a beach bed or cabana at Coco Cay, you can always find a chaise lounge to park your carcass. Ocean Cay, not so much. Two beach areas, one right by the pier, the other is a bit of a hike or tram ride.

The Seashore is a pretty ship with a strange layout to me (last minute booking, we were ALL the way in the front of the  bus on Deck 10. Rat maze of corridors to get to the elevator banks and stairs which are either side of the atrium. One set of elevators at the stern. Smart elevators though and they worked nicely. Wonderful crew, though service at times made me wonder about adequate staffing. We're talking a Wonder-like passenger load on a vessel that is 70K gross tons smaller. It felt every bit as crowded as it looked; Guest Services even had a sign on the counter proclaiming "THIS SAILING IS FULLY BOOKED". With the number of children on board, I'm guessing it 100% plus.

Would we give MSC another look? Maybe, if the price is right and we can get a midship cabin. This was our first trip in a bow cabin. Noisy as hell up there docking but you knew we were arriving in port without looking out the windows. The bow thrusters were literally rattling the fillings in my teeth.

22 hours ago, Pooch said:

I wrap mine in dirty clothes!!!

Chateau Fruit of the Loom 2024? 

But I must confess tee shirts did an admirable job of protecting 3 bottles of Whatley Rum in our carry on one trip. I always tote spirits in the carry on in case we win the random CBP "follow me" lottery at disembarkation. 

In over 50 years of living in Central  FL. I've watched rockets go up and sometimes sadly blow up. But the absolutely most memorable launch was a Falcon 9 just before sunset last year (I forget what month). 

Crystal clear skies, launch with booster return to the Cape. Could see first stage cutoff and separation. Shortly thereafter the first stage boost back burn followed by the landing burn until it was below the horizon. About 5 minutes or so after landing, the sonic boom from reentry.

All from the comfort of our back porch......

We're easily amused. Every cruise we've taken, Royal or the competition. Probably will never do anything other than the Caribbean, but have been to countries we've never seen, and we really enjoy that we ride the 'hotel' to get there. As much as we can for as long as we're able, cruising kicks land vacation butt.

April '23 sailing on Wonder, we experienced an exception to the rule (much to our surprise). An hour before our booked excursion (bus tour, St. Thomas) was scheduled to leave the pier, I called the Shore Excursion desk to let them know we would not be going, fully aware of the excursion cancelation policy. I called so ShoreEx could pass the info along to the tour operator so they could reconcile their 'body count'. The crew member I spoke with asked why (my back was beyond killing me). She canceled our reservation, informed us she would refund the cost to our onboard account as a credit, then offered to send staff from the medical center to our cabin. 

The closest itinerary to that (for us) was an 8 day ABC Islands trip from PC on Jewel in Nov. '22 (Thanksgiving Week)  . Back to back sea days going down/back and one sea day thrown in the middle.

Except for Night 2 when Mrs. Geezer was damn near blown off the pool deck walking to Izumi, it was without question our best cruise.

3 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

I ordered too many of these things! 

7-11, Racetrac, or Circle K of the Seas?

They should be unwrapped doing a slow roll under the heat lamp. 

51 minutes ago, Pooch said:

My daughter lives in Longwood!

Mr & Mrs Geezer reside in the Sabal Pointe area, close to shopping, banking,  sorta fine dining, our collection of doctors. Everything a Geezer could need........well there is the daughter's family featuring 3 grandchildren 100' down the street. 

The wild card is have you ever done it on a major holiday weekend? Is your route I-4 east to 528 or I-4 to 417 to stay south of MCO ( and a lot of traffic) and entering 528 east of MCO?

Once east of MCO smooth sailing since it's Monday, but maybe give yourself 30-40 minutes more because of the holiday?

Caveat: This free advice is coming from someone though a resident of Longwood, has booked hotels in Cape Canaveral 2x to arrive the day before our cruise. My traffic paranoia is boundless......

33 minutes ago, barjpoe said:

 I had a cheap one with a screw and a hole in the handle to put the cover in and couldn't pull the cork out.

We ordered a bottle on one trip through Cruise Planner for delivery on embarkation day; one of the 'El Cheapo' corkscrews was included. 

Best corkscrew I've ever used, I threw out 2 I had at home when we returned. Dunno why, but no violence, bloodshed or potty mouth when opening a bottle now. 

Must be the crown & anchor logo embossed on it....... 

On 11/15/2024 at 1:42 PM, dr martini said:

the burger i had at johnny rockets on symphony was my best meal of the cruise outside of 150 central park

HELL YEAH!!!!! Nuts to all the overpriced, underwhelming "do want a fried egg on your burger" designer hamburgers. My needs are simple.

I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 & French fried potatoes..............Big Kosher pickle and cold draft beer, Good God Almighty which way do I steer?

With apologies to Jimmy Buffett.....................

24 minutes ago, Bowen said:

Is the atmosphere more "party", louder, more unruly? I've only done 7 days or longer, so I'm kind of wondering what to expect. 

Itinerary dependent perhaps?

We did a 5 day Western Caribbean on Mariner early November '23 from PC. No Coco Cay if memory serves. 

Honestly, it didn't seem any different than our 8 day ABC trip on Jewel Thanksgiving week of 2022, though there were  4 Code Alphas on Jewel in 8 days, if that means anything 

Another one of the mysteries of cruise line IT.

If it's any comfort, I have similar issues with HAL. Abruptly stopped receiving cruise related e-mails & marketing e-mails. Clicked the e-mail box again when recently booking a reservation, now I'm carpet bombed daily. Royal ? Never any problem, got the gift card offer e-mail and get the C & A newsletter at the end of each month.......and we're just common Platinum folk.

Don't sweat the check-in selfie. In 4 embarkations from Port Canaveral my DIY's have never been accepted. Typically, the reason given is insufficient lighting or background is too dark. Small detail, the terminal photo takes mere seconds and you're on your way. I'm always amused because the gate agent shows me the picture and asks if I'm OK with it or would prefer a retake. Standard response from me: No thanks, pretty passed me by a long time ago! 

Fire and/or other emergency requiring ship evacuation. Somehow, I don't envision the real thing going as smoothly as the drills the crews perform periodically...........