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JLMoran

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Posts posted by JLMoran

  1. On 3/26/2024 at 9:20 AM, FionaMG said:

    Maybe she can find something nice for you to do in one of your ports instead 😊

    After I told her the situation, she said that we'll use some of our OBC ($225 on this Odyssey sailing, thanks to a promo when I booked) to eat at one specialty venue. And then she'll pay for dinner at another venue of my choice. So definitely still getting something good for B-Day. I'm thinking we'll use the OBC for teppanyaki at Izumi, and the one she covers will be dinner at Giovanni's. (I've heard the new Giovanni's is way better than Jamie's Italian ever was, and it's even better than the original Giovanni's Italian Kitchen on ships like Freedom)

  2. 6 hours ago, baltodave said:

    We just got off Odyssey and the minimum Craps bet was $10.  My beef is that every time I ventured into the Casino, the Craps table was closed.  They opened it when we were enjoying dinner or shows and after the shows, I was usually too tired to hit the casino.  The one time, I did go in there and the Craps table was open, it was packed and I couldn't get a spot at the table. 

    I never saw the craps table open during the day or early evening on any of my past sailings. Only ever opened after I'd go there following late-seating dinner. And yes, when it was open there was often a big crowd that made it hard to get a spot without waiting a while.

  3. 1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

    Even if they change out the wines, it completely defeats the purpose of a chef's table. The menu should be down to the individual chef responsible for the meal.

    Exactly! When this was originally a thing, the point was that it gave their head chef a chance to flex their creativity and serve something unique and unlike anything else available on the ship. Combined with the wine pairings, that made it well worth the cover charge.

    Now? I’ve had those individual items in Coastal Kitchen and various specialty restaurants, and they’re all clearly standards on the menu. So I guess my wife will be saving herself a couple hundred bucks since she was offering to take me to that as a birthday gift.

  4. Only ate there once, back in 2018 on Anthem, but the meat entree portions were massive as Ashley noted. The fish entree was a bit smaller to my mind, especially since that wasn't being shared with my wife, and more suited to just one person.

    I'd say that if everyone at the table splits all the food evenly, your husband may well need an after-dinner visit to the Windjammer or Playmakers or the pub. But if your kids are truly picky and he gets to enjoy more of the appetizers, then he'll probably feel plenty full.

  5. I was looking at the dining options on my Odyssey sailing for next year, and saw that they were offering it on Day 1 and nothing else. I realize that might well be because they just haven't opened up more evenings yet because it's still far off, so I'm not worried there. But what did worry me was the menu I saw listed. It was exactly the same menu as I had in 2018 on Freedom of the Seas -- scallops carpaccio, smoked tomato soup, lobster salad with hearts of palm, branzino or filet, and The World for dessert.

    Please tell me that's just a sample menu and they vary it up a bit. If they are still serving the exact same menu for the past 6 years, across the fleet, I will not book that no matter how much I enjoyed it back then.

  6. I remember Matt mentioning someone who he loved to book for a day tour when he'd be in St. Maarten, and that a lot of folks here have booked him on that recommendation and been equally happy. Can you share that here? With this being our third time in St. Maarten and doing the same boat tour twice, I'm looking to see the island from land and experience the food and beaches a little more.

  7. 28 minutes ago, Fastfaller said:

    Personally I don't understand why they would want a higher minimum... It's the minimum, people can always wager more. Unless the goal is to only have serious gambles at the tables, but then they are limiting the interest in the games.

    It might not be so much about "serious gamblers" as crowd control. There's usually just one craps table on the ships I've been on, two if I'm lucky, and with only 8 (10?) spots available at a table they might want to keep from having a big crowd gathered around waiting their turns. On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing like the excitement that happens when a big crowd is gathered and cheering on a shooter who's having a hot streak.

  8. 1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

    How is the kitty?

    Kiba is doing well. He just got checked for a heart murmur and possible GI issue, both came back as OK / clean. He's still an absolute love bug with me, cuddles at least a few times a day.

    I do still miss our other cat, Suki. But at least that grief has run its course.

    Oh, and we adopted two dogs during the pandemic -- Cece and Taco. Both small mixed breeds. Kiba is finally getting along well with both of them, 3-1/2 years later.

  9. 2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

    Still no OA class for you? I guess trying to convince you to sail IC is out of the question...lol

    My wife has expressed interest in an OA class sailing out of NJ, but that obviously won't be happening this year (have a Bermuda cruise booked with another line) or next year at this point (my wife tolerates one cruise a year).

    As far as Icon goes, my wife said that ship was too big and too much of a kids' playground for her tastes. So yeah, no Icon for us. 😂

  10. I've seen $5 craps before, but many years ago. My first ever sailing on Freedom in 2018 had a $5 craps table, but only during certain hours and usually sea days. They might be starting to phase it back in to get more participation in the casinos.

    @WAAAYTOOO, I know you cruise a lot and gamble onboard regularly. Do you recall seeing $5 craps on any of your recent sailings?

  11. 5 hours ago, RWDW1204 said:

    Welcome back! How's your health and your daughter doing? 

    Health is good. Had another foot surgery in '21 that took a while to heal, but that’s finally good and things are stable again.

    My older daughter is doing great; she graduated college in '22 and has been figuring out what she wants to do for a living, and has been living on her own for the last several years.

    My younger daughter is also doing great; she finished her freshman year in college last year, and is now living in Tokyo, Japan to pursue a career as a manga artist. She’s loving it there, and already has a job as a part-time assistant with a published manga author who told her that she’s already good enough to be published in a year or two. He’s helping her with getting her first full work created and submitted to one of the regular competitions, so she can start getting the notice of publishers.

    Hope you’re also doing well!

  12. I had heard a lot of stories when cruising resumed in 2021 about how the food quality really tanked on Royal, as well as other lines. I'm curious now that cruising has been back for a few years if the quality has gone back what it was pre-pandemic. What have your recent experiences been? I'll be sailing on Odyssey in a bit under a year, so I'll be paying extra attention to folks who've been on her .

  13. Just saying a quick hello here, first time in about four years. I just booked the 12-night Odyssey sailing in Jan 2025, which is an itinerary I've been wanting to do kind of since I first started sailing with Royal in 2018 and learned about it. Seemed like a nice way to celebrate turning 55. 🙂

    To everyone I haven't spoken with in all these years, hope you've been well!

  14. Count me on this sailing. Gonna be my first time on Royal in a good six years! Haven't sailed with them since before the pandemic hit. And this sailing will mark a few moments for me:

    • I turn 55 four days before sail-away
    • I finally hit Platinum status (for all that means these days 😏)
    • First sailing on Odyssey
    • First time in Antigua and Barbados (too bad no Curacao, but 2 outta 3 ain't bad)

    And yeah, it's been a minute since I posted to these boards. 😉 

  15. Just to close out this thread -- someone on my roll call found a third-party tour group in Guadeloupe with an acceptable tour, so wife and I joined that for 190 Euro total. And we now have a private tour booked with Beyond the Beach in Martinique; that one is $$$$ -- 320 Euro total for a half-day 5-hour booking, that's just barely 50/50 between driving time and our time at the botanical gardens and Anse Mitan beach. Plus a 15-minute stop at a bakery to grab a quick bite, since the area restaurants get very crowded on Sundays and it would push us into even more expensive full-day booking territory. But it's still a better choice for us than their stock tours, since those include stops we just don't care to do.

    But I have to say that working with Beyond the Beach was very pleasant, considering I was putting together a booking last-minute, and they definitely tried to help me with making a multi-passenger option that I could post to my roll call. No one was interested, though, so I'm "stuck" with the private booking for just the two of us.

  16. For St. Maarten, there is a third-party excursion offered by Soualiga Destinations, simply called their most popular tour. It's a boat tour around the island, with multiple stops for snorkeling and beach time, along with time at a variety of other places of note. My wife and I did it with our kids in 2018, and loved it so much we're doing it again on our upcoming cruise next month. Very reasonable price per person, and they make a point of scheduling the trip to work with each ship's schedule for the day. They are the #1 third-party excursion you'll find in St. Maarten on Trip Advisor.

    For St. Thomas, I'm only doing my first visit there next month. But I found that sites like Trip Advisor are offering many if not all of the same excursions being offered by the ships, such as a half-day tour that includes stops at Magen's Bay, a panoramic mountaintop view, and the downtown quarter; or a trip to St. John's for most of a day. Their prices are comparable to the ship excursions; in the past I would have said they are typically less than the ship offerings, but I'm finding this time around that they are generally the exact same price, sometimes even slightly higher. Not sure if this is lingering after effects of the pandemic that will eventually sort themselves out; another effect of worldwide inflation; or the cruise lines getting desperate enough for passengers to book with them / give them more revenue that they've decided to really compete against these other providers.

    Don't be discouraged by the ship excursions selling out, the reputable third-party sites like TA / Viator and such are generally very reliable.

  17. 1 hour ago, twangster said:

    Bring euros and learn some basic French.

    Thankfully, I still remember a small amount of the French I learned in middle and high school. Enough at least to fumble a basic conversation and hopefully convince someone to speak English when I fall short. My wife only speaks rudimentary Spanish, so I'll have to do most of the attempted talking.

    We looked at a couple of guided tours by the company "Beyond the Beach". Both stop at a rum distillery for a significant chunk of the tour time, which makes them less appealing since my wife and I barely drink it via (dark & stormy's or mojitos). We really wanted to see the botanical garden there, so we're waiting to see if spots open back up between now and sail date, or after we're on board.

  18. I was planning to go to  a couple of destinations on our own in both Martinique and Guadeloupe, as there are places my wife and I would like to go (the Balata Botanical Garden in Martinique, and the Zoo au Parc des Mamelles near Deshaies in Guadeloupe) that aren't offered on any ship-hosted excursion or even a third-party place like TripAdvisor / Viator.

    But I've been looking transportation options, and from what I see there is basically nothing that makes self-exploration cost-effective or, alternately, safe from a getting back to the ship on time perspective. Martinique's bus service apparently serves only the city; to get anywhere outside the city requires booking a taxi ($$$$) or risking one of the "TC" (taxis collectifs) mini-vans that have no set schedule and may not even return to where they dropped you off. There's supposed to be some car rental places close to the port in Martinique, but I've read there are typically problems with cars breaking down or heavy surcharges being added, and it's once again a risk I don't think we should be taking on a shore day. Guadeloupe doesn't even have the TC option, and the only place to rent a car is at the airport on the far side of the island.

    I'm sure the port has the usual crowd of people staying nearby who will offer to take passengers to places, basically free-lance taxis. But are they as exorbitant as the regular taxis since (at least in Guadeloupe) they know they are almost literally the only game in town? I imagine they'll charge an hourly rate, unless we can count on them to come back at a set time.

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