JLMoran

I stayed in the Hera Hotel in Athens, it was very nice! Small boutique hotel, reasonably priced in my book, located just past the end of a sort of "restaurant row" (though not in the more densely packed "downtown" area with tons and tons of restaurants; that was about a 15 minute walk away), and only a long block from the Parthenon entrance.
In Rome, I stayed in the River Palace Hotel. The hotel itself is gorgeous, and it's located just outside the Plaza of the Pope, which is maybe a 20-minute slow walk away from the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, along with a couple of gorgeous cathedrals that we stumbled on and a bunch of great restaurants.

A less than stellar skate is still better than no skate at all. And knowing that you are visually impaired, if I had watched it I would likely have been amazed. Can only imagine how much you've fine-tuned your motion senses and balance to be able to do that.
I've never been able to skate, thanks to being born with two club feet and surgeries that straightened them out but left me with zero calf muscles or ankle strength. (and degenerative arthritis in both ankles) Kudos to you, and congratulations!
You know what that means. You're that much closer to Cruise Day! 😄

I stayed in the Hera Hotel in Athens, it was very nice! Small boutique hotel, reasonably priced in my book, located just past the end of a sort of "restaurant row" (though not in the more densely packed "downtown" area with tons and tons of restaurants; that was about a 15 minute walk away), and only a long block from the Parthenon entrance.
In Rome, I stayed in the River Palace Hotel. The hotel itself is gorgeous, and it's located just outside the Plaza of the Pope, which is maybe a 20-minute slow walk away from the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, along with a couple of gorgeous cathedrals that we stumbled on and a bunch of great restaurants.

I stayed in the Hera Hotel in Athens, it was very nice! Small boutique hotel, reasonably priced in my book, located just past the end of a sort of "restaurant row" (though not in the more densely packed "downtown" area with tons and tons of restaurants; that was about a 15 minute walk away), and only a long block from the Parthenon entrance.
In Rome, I stayed in the River Palace Hotel. The hotel itself is gorgeous, and it's located just outside the Plaza of the Pope, which is maybe a 20-minute slow walk away from the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, along with a couple of gorgeous cathedrals that we stumbled on and a bunch of great restaurants.

THE GOOD>>>>>Picked this one cause of itinerary that included Key West and Bimini, both on bucket list for Fiancé. Boarding was seamless. Crew was best I have ever seen! Ship clean and not crowded. Buffet better than Windjammers.  Room was smaller than Royal but balcony was bigger. Items purchased online had not been delivered though. Call to guest services solved part of it. Some items did get delivered. Guest services called to say they were sold out although there was plenty of the other items plainly visible in the gift shop at higher cost than what I had agreed to pay on line.  They said they would refund to my card form of payment. NO biggie but still a minor glitch. Two of three outlets and both usb ports were intermittent or mostly not working. TV , Wi-Fi as well barely operational... Guest services said they would send somebody. They never did come.  MDR dinner was like old days on RCL excellent!!!. Comedy/ magic show was good. After that we had to get logged back in to internet that repeatedly kicked us off. Yet too minor of a glitch to moan about. Day 2 breakfast was excellent and Key West great, especially for Fiancé who had never been. Second dinner as good as the first...
THE BAD>>>>>Day three we were unable to dock due to wind and current... Many aboard were upset but I had to agree with the call. We would have two sea days instead of one to crawl to Nassau. Mid afternoon I noticed no Wi-Fi  again. Also noticed we had come to a complete stop and were adrift. Phone wasn't working so I decided to go to Wi-Fi desk. Emergency lights in hall and elevators not working? Had to use stairs. Full on black out! Water was out as well, No ice for the bars, no showers. Public restrooms closed and guests told to use the ones in their cabins and flush after power would be restored.  With no elevators guests had to hoof up several decks worth of stairs. Many of them elderly. Some didn't make it and suffered the ultimate indignity. Sections of stairs roped off to clean that mess!  Power restored for a while. It went back out at around dinner time. Many were in showers and unable to get soap off.  Dinner was hot with no AC.... Kitchen escalators and elevators didn't work. Poor wait staff had to run up and down hot dim stairs with their orders.  After that black out the Celebrity Apps wouldn't work. No way again to check upcoming shows or monitor account.  Next day started ok then multiple pipes on multiple decks burst! Again public facilities were closed.  People had to scramble to find safe places to relieve themselves. Some noted the water went brown when the water quit running properly. Decks 2,5 and 7 were soaked in many areas..
 THE REALLY UGLY: Repairs were made, Nassau stop no problem, but ugly was on its way. People were upset. They were told in some cases after we docked that BImini port fees were refunded to onboard accounts and needed to be spent while aboard?!? Nobody was notified and with no tv or working apps no way to see their accounts.  My fees never were refunded nor my online goods that were never delivered. Some people were told they would get 30% off their next cruise but couldn't use any other discount?  Their every day sales offer bigger discounts off full fare!!! Some were given like $90 being and told that equated to 40% of their total fares????????????? Many were told there would be no compensation what so ever!!!! Some were told there had been cold towels and free drinks at some pool but nobody let the passengers know. Then most, like me several days later have not received or been told a single thing. I had been given a promise of a call this morning but none ever came! After I took half day off to take that call! 😕  I called them and no apology or update. I am far from impressed!

A less than stellar skate is still better than no skate at all. And knowing that you are visually impaired, if I had watched it I would likely have been amazed. Can only imagine how much you've fine-tuned your motion senses and balance to be able to do that.
I've never been able to skate, thanks to being born with two club feet and surgeries that straightened them out but left me with zero calf muscles or ankle strength. (and degenerative arthritis in both ankles) Kudos to you, and congratulations!
You know what that means. You're that much closer to Cruise Day! 😄

A less than stellar skate is still better than no skate at all. And knowing that you are visually impaired, if I had watched it I would likely have been amazed. Can only imagine how much you've fine-tuned your motion senses and balance to be able to do that.
I've never been able to skate, thanks to being born with two club feet and surgeries that straightened them out but left me with zero calf muscles or ankle strength. (and degenerative arthritis in both ankles) Kudos to you, and congratulations!
You know what that means. You're that much closer to Cruise Day! 😄

Well, this bodes well for my live blog!!!
This past week has been a whirlwind, with a less than stellar skate on Wednesday. However, it was a fun week, and a few fun cruise related things happened. 
Our cabin is now confirmed - the barcode trick was correct and we have been assigned cabin 10174. I am very happy about this, as it looks to be in a great location. 
Our cruise documents have also arrived in my inbox. 
I managed to get a photo of the rink I was skating on this week, can anyone with better vision than me give an estimate if the one on Oasis is bigger or smaller?
Cruise prep for the coming week is to do a dummy packing run, and pray that my suitcase is under the weight limit for my airline... 
30 days to go!!!

My phone and iPad finally synched, so I have some photos from Antigua and Grenada.  Let’s see how this goes.  I’ve had some trouble spacing them and inserting text.  I’m terrible at this stuff.
This is the floating platform in Antigua for the stingray swim.  It made the entire experience so much better than in Grand Cayman. It was much easier to get into and out of the water

  These mysterious blobs are obviously stingrays.  They are so docile and sweet.  
 

You can almost see the tail !
 

This is St George, Grenada with Explorer in the background.  I really liked Grenada.  Nice people, beautiful island, shitty roads.
 

Obviously, I’m having a bad hair day.  
 

The town of St George really reminds me of Curaçao, which is one of my very favorite places.  This town just looks so quaint.


Shamefully, I got very few photos of Ft Frederick.  
 

These monkeys are native to the island and I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know their proper species name.  We caught a fleeting glance at one in the rain forest.

…and finally, the waterfall at Annandale.  Very beautiful place. Kinda like a cenote in Mexico.

There is breaking news this morning that Dillard’s is reporting significant shortages of red undergarments. They believe they are not the only store experiencing supply chain issues and are extremely concerned that the shortages could last for years. 

😉
Govern yourselves accordingly …
Curt from Canada
 

I swear Dancing drums hit non stop on Oasis in October. We hit a hand pay with a slot pull, I went back to the same machine and hit about $400 bucks in a few spins, and apparently someone hit a mega jackpot on the SAME machine 2 days later. 

Dan and I hit a Royal Flush on video poker tonite !  Woohoo.  Too bad we were only playing a quarter. 😔
…but it made us much healthier than we were !  He will definitely make Prime on this cruise as he’s more than halfway there and this is only night 3 of 9.

 
Yikes.  Sorry this picture is so big !
About 5 minutes ago we had an Alpha, Alpha, Alpha call come over the stateroom speakers.  I don’t recall them usually making that announce inside the rooms.  It is for a passenger cabin on deck 12.  I hope whoever it is will be ok.

That's my sister!!!!  🙂

ngl, I had to check the post date of this multiple times to confirm it wasn't an April Fool's joke.
Matt! Matt! Why hast thou forsaken us?!?
 
😉

Quantum ships were designed from the start to be cold-weather cruising ships. So features like an aqua theater, water slides, etc. would be unusable while in the colder regions at start or end of a cruise (or throughout on something like an Alaska sailing or late-fall Canada/New England cruise). I imagine features like those also pose some safety risks in rougher winter waters or in high winds common to the winter season.
I imagine that's also why the ice skating rink was skipped. I saw at least one skater fall in every performance, even in calm seas. Can't image people being able to use the space when the seas are really rockin' and a rollin'.
Like @need2cruz, my wife and I love the Quantum class ships. The Two70 Lounge became our favorite spot to have breakfast every morning. It's always wonderfully quiet there in the mornings, with the wake view adding to the calm. We also really like the shows they have in that space.
The Q class solarium is easily our favorite of the ships we've been on (admittedly, not many). We like the SeaPlex for the non-sports options it offers since neither of us is into sports, along with features like iFly that are unique to the line and still work even when the weather is colder. Our only real complaint is how much the ships "look inward", even with all the balcony rooms they have. But that's another trade-off of being designed for colder climates, where people will want to limit their exposure to the elements when just getting from Point A to Point B.
Q class is the only one besides Freedom or Radiance class that I want to book these days. I'm glad that Royal continues to offer those, and I hope they evolve the Q line in ways that pull from Celebrity's Edge class ships (which clearly drew inspiration from Q class).

ngl, I had to check the post date of this multiple times to confirm it wasn't an April Fool's joke.
Matt! Matt! Why hast thou forsaken us?!?
 
😉

ngl, I had to check the post date of this multiple times to confirm it wasn't an April Fool's joke.
Matt! Matt! Why hast thou forsaken us?!?
 
😉

ngl, I had to check the post date of this multiple times to confirm it wasn't an April Fool's joke.
Matt! Matt! Why hast thou forsaken us?!?
 
😉

ngl, I had to check the post date of this multiple times to confirm it wasn't an April Fool's joke.
Matt! Matt! Why hast thou forsaken us?!?
 
😉

ngl, I had to check the post date of this multiple times to confirm it wasn't an April Fool's joke.
Matt! Matt! Why hast thou forsaken us?!?
 
😉

You won't find any hotels at Cape Liberty port, as that port is most industrial and set far off from the nearest places with hotels. But there are several options within about 30 minutes of the port. If your train is arriving in Hoboken terminal, there are lots of options in nearby Weehawken and Newark. I live in NJ less than an hour from Cape Liberty, so I haven't stayed in a hotel pre-cruise. But I had found a guide from Eat, Sleep, Cruise years ago that I still point people to for recommended options. It is pretty darned old now (2016/2018), but if no one else gives you options hopefully this will help you out.

ngl, I had to check the post date of this multiple times to confirm it wasn't an April Fool's joke.
Matt! Matt! Why hast thou forsaken us?!?
 
😉

So, we came up to the Crown Lounge and of course, it’s Happy Hour and it’s hoppin.  I am too self conscious to take a photo of the crowd with so many people here, but this space is soooo much nicer than the Concierge Lounge.  Plus, there is an outside seating are which is nice.
I will try and sneak a picture of the treats but it appears that these people haven’t eaten in a month b/c they’re attacking these treats like locusts !  I doubt I will be able to get even close.
I snuck in between some of them
 

So, where are we going ?  Not that it matters, of course….
5 ports of call:  Puerto Plata, DR (day #3), St Thomas (day #4), Antigua (day #5), Grenada (day #6) and St Kitts (day #7).  We will be doing 2 excursions on this sailing (very unusual for us).  We will be swimming with the stingrays in Antigua and taking a familiarization tour in Grenada since we’ve never been there.  
 
Dan is strutting about in his underwear with the curtains open, violating the #1 rule of interior view rooms, “thou shalt not expose thyself”.  I did quickly pulled the curtains together but I’m sure it would have been too late for anyone looking up.  He truly does NOT give a flying fu##.  😜🥰. Hopefully being up on 8 will protect everyone !  This is gonna be a fun cruise.
I LOVE our Cap !  I couldn’t make out his first name but his last name is Mortensen (from northern Norway).  He offered an unambiguous threat to all of the pool lounge chair hogs !  He said, “These chairs do not belong to you.  They ALL belong to ME”.  I love it !  He sounds like a fun guy.  

Yes, I’m sure you will not be impressed with the Concierge/Suites Lounge on EX.  I truly don’t understand why they haven’t moved it and renamed it yet.  Oh well…
I do enjoy this class of ships.  They have everything I need (except for the cinema found on the Radiance class, which I really do enjoy).  They are slightly “shorter” than their big brothers, the Freedom class, but it makes the walk down the Promenade SO much easier when you’re traveling the length of the ship.  It certainly doesn’t have the dazzle of an Oasis class but I appreciate the better itins on EX as compared to the short, boring 4-nighters to Nassau and PDCC.
I will go up to the Crown Lounge and take some pix up there.  As @OCSC Mikementioned, it’s nice to have a choice.