Floski

My first cruise was on Freedom in April 2015, and I was that guy with the jaw on the floor.  I was absolutely 

blown away, from how easy it was to board all the way to disembarkation.  The ports (St Thomas, St. Maarten, and 

the original Coco Cay) were fantastic as well!

Loved it so much that as soon as I got home, I booked the exact same cruise for the next year.

So, two Freedom, two Oasis, and two Harmony's later, I'm stoked for Wonder in December!!

I can't honestly answer this, as we have only gone to Nachi Cocom on Coz, but I'd be surprised if you can 

find any good craft beer pretty much anywhere in the Caribbean.   I'm a craft guy, too, and essentially

all I've found on the islands is local lagers, or "local" beers that are brewed in Indiana or Florida.  Heck, 

even the ships have terrible tap lists.  When the best you can find is La Fin du Monde (which I do like

and think is a solid beer, but nowhere near good craft), you're gonna be hurtin'.

Chris, congratulations - that is quite a coup!    You handled yourself brilliantly!   

Thank you, Neesa; that was super informative.

We've never cruised Mariner, although we have booked an 8-day next May, and now

I'm a little concerned.  Balconies were stupid high, so we opted for a promenade inside

room, which was our cabin on our first two cruises on Freedom.  I'm hooked on balconies,

and am a little disappointed to be back inside, but the itinerary is fantastic.

I hope by May '23 perhaps the Elon wi-fi will be installed and we won't have to deal with crappy zoom.

I hope y'all have a great time!

Where are you parking?  We usually stay across the street at the Radisson; the Hampton is a little cheaper, 

I believe, but their cruise parking is really high.

We will be sailing Mariner next May, so I'm hoping for some juicy tidbits!

Happy birthday to your daughter!!!

With the advent of facial recognition, disembarkation in Port Canaveral has become amazing.

There are hardly any customs agents in the booths anymore, and you literally get your luggage

and walk out.  

Big brother knows what we've been doing and what we've purchased.

....counting down the minutes until the Suite Snobs hear the telepathic cry!

It's not just Crown Royal, unfortunately.

On our April cruise on Harmony, they were missing a lot of their high-end stuff - Zacapa, Courvoisier, Remy, etc....

I'm hoping they have this remedied by Dec!

2 hours ago, Phillip Diamond Plus said:

We also would love for Royal Caribbean to home port in Charleston, as we live in Knoxville which is about a 6 hour drive away.

But what about Savannah?  

Savannah has large cargo ships port there. So, I would think that ships larger than the Vision Class could even dock there.

 Savannah's airport is not as large as Charleston's which might be a problem, but passengers could be shuttled from Jacksonville and Charleston airports.   

   Just dreaming of closer Royal Caribbean ports for us.

Savannah would be great.  Lovely town.

Their airport may not be as big, but it has long been much less expensive to fly in/out.

Not sure where they would put the terminal, though.  It's pretty crowded on River St.

12 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

There’s the pre-Covid cruise vacation experience and now the “post” Covid experience. Unfortunately for the customer it’s just a shade of what it was. Given the massive demand for cruise vacations the corporation can settle for less regarding staffing and experience and families will still cruise. Personally, deck 17 on Oasis with my family sounds really great right about now! 

Unfortunately for the cruise lines, this strategy won't last too, too long.  If they can't get more new crewmembers vetted/approved, then

the service will continue to erode as present crew get worn out.  I'm sure the lines are working super hard to remedy this issue.

I wish I could be on any deck on Oasis right now.

We live in Charleston, and I'm much more concerned with my house getting hit by a hurricane

than I am actually being out in the ocean.  I have full trust in RC and the Captain to maneuver 

us away from any danger.

22 hours ago, SPS said:

That would be pretty awesome for ya! Any idea if anything bigger than the Vision class ships port there for the day? I'm wondering just how big of a ship can be docked there.

 

I'm pretty sure it's just Vision....

There has been a ton of debate to build a modern terminal, but I'm pretty sure the greedy developers

will get their way and build more stupid condos/apartments down on the river.  It's gotten so ridiculously 

crowded downtown that I very seldom go down there.  You'd think the bluebloods would prefer an 

occasional ship with temporary visitors instead of more cars.

7 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

From the article it sounded like Charleston wanted to exit the home porting business, so you're likely out of luck

So, just kill a guy's dream, eh?   Thanks a lot, pal

I know the blue bloods downtown pretty much hate having an ugly Carnival ship being 

so close to the historic area, so they've finally gotten their way and Carnival is leaving.

I was thinking......Carnival is a pretty dirty ship, emissions-wise, and that is a big reason 

why they're hated here.   HOWEVER - Royal is a much cleaner running vessel and wouldn't

"soot up" their homes as badly.   

I know it's a pipe dream, but how freaking awesome would it be to have a real cruise line

home porting 15 minutes from my house?    

OHPLEASE OHPLEASE OHPLEASE

Sure, I'd watch.

Since our last two cruises have been on Harmony, maybe I'll see some of my favorite bartenders!

Make sure you get them to show off for ya!

I thought this was going to be about ghosts....

Harmony 3/27-4/03

4100 passengers.  Sorry, I don't have the C&A breakdown.

On 3/28/2022 at 10:28 AM, Toby said:

If you are traveling with kids be advised Orient Beach has a clothing optional section. 

Hmmmm, now that's an excellent question.   I've seen topless (wow!) on the "clothing" side

so it's very possible that they may be exposed.    Perhaps somewhere on the Dutch side may

be better for kiddos.

Grab a taxi (you should be able to find one before your cruise) and head to Orient Beach or some other awesome spot.

It's not expensive, and there are bars/restaurants right there at the beach.

It may be a bit of a risk, but you might get better pricing if you wait until you board.

We did that a few years ago on Oasis and got a good price (sorry, can't remember the cost).

Loved his Florida vacation vlog.  

Very happy for him and his girlfriend!!

There is a super peaceful spot on Deck 5 at the stern, where the jogging track goes where you can just watch and get lost in the wake view (I'm pretty sure Matt 

mentions this spot in his article above).  On Lady O, there were chairs so you could just sit and relax.  When we sailed Harmony after Thanksgiving, there were no 

chairs.  It sure does make a big difference.

Agree with all of the above rec's as well.

I uploaded one of my '81 Glamour Shots!

On 2/18/2022 at 11:16 PM, kittysoul said:

 So, if we want to just skip booking an excursion, we could easily just get off the ship and take a short walk to go to a beach, the restaurants and shops, then walk back to ship at our leisure? 

Absolutely.   Phillipsburg is wonderful for this.  You just grab the water taxi and it takes you straight to town.  There are beaches to the left and right.  Plenty of restaurants and bars.  Beach chairs and umbrellas.  Downtown P'burg is fantastic - not huge, lots of cool shops, etc.  

No need for an RC excursion.

Remember - if you buy liquor - they will keep it, package it, and send to the ship for you.  You'll get it on the last night of the cruise to pack.

On 2/17/2022 at 8:23 AM, BrianAlt said:

Definitely something to do at least once.  We did it and then did it again the next time we were there with our family.

They're awesome.  We've done them three times and always had fun.