Jump to content

JLMoran

Members
  • Posts

    5,575
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    48

Everything posted by JLMoran

  1. I'll be in Barcelona for a single port day in '22 as well. So far the biggest / best things I've seen to do all revolve around the various works created by Antoni Gaudí that are located around the city. Sagrada Familia cathedral -- Must buy tickets in advance as they sell out quickly, and you must be prepared for a long time in line, but the pics I've seen of the interior are spectacular! Ticket options include on-your-own and guided tour that goes to some areas on-your-own can't. Parc Güell -- privatized park system on Carmel Hill There's a third one that I'm forgetting, but if you search for Sagrada Familia on YouTube, you'll find a video covering that plus Gaudí's other publicly viewable works around Barcelona. But for me, those are the two "must-see" things in Barcelona, particularly if you have a couple of days there. I have read / heard that Barcelona is rife with pickpockets in the tourist areas, especially outside Sagrada Familia; so do be careful if you go to either.
  2. Tried the same on iOS Safari, still got the mobile site. ? On the plus side, when I rotate my phone to landscape I do get a more-complete set of editing controls (the icons for bullet list and number list, quote, link, etc.) that I don't get when in portrait mode. So I can start a bullet list in landscape, then switch back to portrait for easier thumb-typing.
  3. You can add me to those affected on mobile. iOS / Safari.
  4. I've done the Bayonne-to-Bermuda 5-night sailing on Anthem in mid- to late-October twice now. Both times the sail-out from NY / NJ was perfectly smooth and no issues at all. The final day of both trips was somewhat rough due to wind and rain, and I suspect also because the ship is moving a lot faster on that final day since it has to cover the same distance in one day that it gets to cover in a day and a half going out, which may cause the stabilizers to be less effective. But I was still fine wandering the ship and enjoying all the different areas. Only time I felt any seasickness was if we spent an hour or two all the way forward or aft (Solarium pool, Royal Theater, CK, etc); we really felt the motion in the Solarium, but even then the water wasn't sloshing out of the pools or hot tubs and everything was open. Still enough in those places to trigger my motion sickness after an hour or two, but once I went back to our mid-ship cabin I recovered quickly. No need for Bonine or anything else besides some ginger beer.
  5. I used Private Journeys on Celebrity for a Covid-canceled Iceland & Greenland sailing. Same service as Royal's. They're very easy to work with, and can accommodate groups of varying size. I had a very specific excursion that I wanted to do (combo of a city walking tour with a whale-watching excursion that had some risk of returning after all-aboard time), and they were more than able to work out an arrangement for my group. They even repriced the excursion when I asked about adding more guests to it, and as expected the price per-person drops rapidly as you add more people. But as Matt's blog linked by @AshleyDillo above shows, you can also be pretty general in your request and they're still good at finding something that will make you quite happy.
  6. I know that they are requiring proof of vaccination and wearing masks while inside the theater. Not sure about the hand sanitizer part, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are. So in that regard, Broadway theaters are behaving very much like the cruise industry, and probably for the same reason -- they don't want a news story about an outbreak of anything besides massive applause on opening night of Dear Evan Hanson. That's not up to Broadway, that's NYC and Mayor DeBlasio's call. And the press will pick the negative angle whichever way he rolls, because if he's not choking the life out of the restaurant and hospitality industry then he's putting millions of New Yorkers' lives at risk. And if they figure out the right spin for it, he'll manage to do both at once.
  7. My family and I will be flying into Athens a couple days ahead of the start of our cruise so we have time to see at least some of the sights and tourist spots on our own. Do you have experience with taking public transportation or other transport to/from any of the typical tourist locations (e.g., Acropolis Museum)? Would be good to know ahead of time if we shouldn't plan on doing more than one spot per day because of traffic or other issues. @sparklymermaid, sorry for the slight (but still topical!) hijack.
  8. I am only guessing here, but my guess is that the driving factor is antibody levels in the blood. My MIL got her two Pfizer shots in between rounds of chemo, and a recent antibody test she took confirmed she still has antibodies but not the level. So she is going to get another antibody test that will confirm levels and then judge how fast to sign up for her booster.
  9. @smokeybandit, part of the "discrepancy" might be that those are the numbers of people being tested right there at the port (e.g., didn't show up with required test result and got a rapid test). Bayley doesn't say and his wording there is unclear. The other possibility is that on-board case counts are higher for a reason that's been theorized here a few times -- people are catching it on their flight to the port, then test positive on board around night 5 or 6.
  10. Kind of back on topic: If you're going to shame us all and only go to CK on one night, then make it the filet night. You will never want Chops filet again.
  11. @Matt, if you're a wine drinker you should definitely ask your CK waiter to recommend a wine to pair with your entree. I did the difficult task of relinquishing control and trusting him after the first couple nights, only letting him know what types of wine I typically liked and didn't like so he'd have an idea where to start. He never suggested a wine that I sent back. My first time trying pinot noir was during that week, and I think he also suggested a good white for one of the other nights. And the UDP is perfectly usable for lunch and second dinner each night, so there you go! You just have to find some other option for breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, and afternoon tea. ?
  12. I have a neighbor who is originally from Portugal, and he's brought over some amazing Portuguese cheeses for me from time to time (along with some good wines he's discovered while working in a local liquor store). He also made us a fantastic fish stew one time, I'm hoping as the pandemic winds down and gatherings become more common that I'll have a chance to try more of his cooking. ?
  13. Great news! Especially when you're from the land of custard tarts. If that was me I'd have had to buy two completely new wardrobes after a year of Covid confinement (and the tart consumption that would require for sanity maintenance). ?
  14. @Marlena, NCL has stated they are only taking vaccinated passengers. No children under 12 allowed on board for these sailings, and all children 12 and over must be fully vaccinated and have the same proof of vaccination as the adults.
  15. Looking forward to following this, even if Star Class is something I'll likely never be able to afford to book. It's still fun seeing just how much it comes with and how much the genies work to make the trip a cut above. Question -- You're Tiffany and he's Steven, and your handle here is Tiffeven. So should I be looking out for co-blogger posts from Stevany? ? ?
  16. Absolutely correct, and a good thing now that we've learned vaccinated people can carry enough of the delta virus to be contagious themselves, even if they have only mild symptoms. That said, I'd much rather sail knowing I have a 10x (at least) smaller chance of "being hit by lightning".
  17. Once the flight is booked and you have your confirmation number, you should be able to go to the Air Canada site and enter it there to proceed with seat selection, etc. Air2Sea doesn't actually do the seat selection for you, and if you ask them to check it they'll just use the same web site. If AC isn't letting you select seats, or isn't showing them on a second login with the flight confirmation, then it could be that they're not allowing seat selection until the seat is ticketed (paid for). I've seen that with some airlines (e.g., United), while others consider the flight ticketed as soon as you have your confirmation number.
  18. The pool looks amazing! I also want to see a pic of it lit up at night. Is that something that is also tied to the 1-week service mode run? Congratulations on finally getting this big project (almost) completed. Hopefully those last few bits will happen quickly and without further incidents.
  19. @BrianB, what's the most straightforward way to get to Elbow Bay Beach? That's one of the ones I'd heard about and wanted to make a point of seeing next time I'm in Bermuda. Also, have you heard of the beach that has a cliff people jump from into the ocean, and then they swim to a cave with carved stairs that take you back up to the... lighthouse? Fort? Some building that's also there and gives access to that jumping cliff. Might be Admiralty beach?
  20. Paging @coneyraven! Paging (not a doctor) @coneyraven!! He and I love Tobacco Bay Beach over by St. George's. It's not well-known, and a bit of a "rougher" / more rocky beach, but it's always available. If you go to my live blog of our first Bermuda trip, you'll find lots of pictures and get a rough idea of how to get there. The beach itself is rather small, and faces onto a little bay surrounded by steep, jagged rocks. Water level varies with the tides. There's a bar / restaurant there where you can get food and drinks, and also rent beach chairs and an umbrella if you want. Oh, and if you feel like you're not finding the right road from town, just ask anyone. They'll all wave in a vague direction you need to go and mumble, "That way to Tobacco Bay." ? Horseshoe Bay is the super-popular one you're thinking of. And yes, if you go later in the day or on the first day of a multi-day stop it is hugely overcrowded. But if you get there right at 9 AM when they open, the beach has hardly anyone there. Especially if you ask the people who rent out the loungers and umbrellas to set you up as far down the beach as they're allowed to go; it will take hours before the crowds get close to you. And it is definitely a very scenic and enjoyable beach, you just have to time your visit right. That said, there are lots of other beaches that we learned about from other people on the ship, including Admiralty Beach, Long Bay Beach, and Elbow Beach. But I haven't been able to get to yet so I can't speak to how good or bad they are. From pictures that people I talked with showed me, or descriptions I got from my table-mates at dinner, more than a few of them are just as nice as Horseshoe Bay without the massive tourist crowds, and even have some neat features of their own. The main draw for Horseshoe is its convenience, thanks to the constantly running shuttle vans to/from Royal Navy Dockyard; but if you get an all-day commuter pass then you can use it to find some of these other beaches and spend some time on them instead. And I was told a lot of them even have their own restaurants and amenities, so you wouldn't really be giving up anything you'd have at Horseshoe Bay. I forget which one of those particularly piqued our interest, but it's north of Horseshoe Bay and only reachable by pink bus or taxi. It's got a cliff that people like to jump from into the ocean, then swim into a nearby cave that has a carved stairway leading back up to the ground.
  21. So sorry that your trip got canceled, @bossdog421. Understandable that you're taking a leave of absence, given the challenges around having to pre-plan time off from work. Hopefully things will get better and it will be a brief leave for you. This more than anything is what has ticked me off the most about all of this. Royal knows a particular cruise won't be sailing, for whatever reason, but they wait until after final payment to make the call and lock in everyone's money for an interest-free loan. I know they're a business, I know they need cash on hand for stuff, but it is the worst customer experience they could possibly provide. Especially when they then say that any refunds will take up to 45 days to issue (and that after whatever final decision date for FCC or refund is given, itself at least a month out).
  22. Free for all to use is how I would do it. With the river running right past the other side of the swim-up bar in Oasis Lagoon. You enter your order on the app while getting into the river, and pick up your drink while floating past the bar. ?
×
×
  • Create New...