JLMoran

Writing this from a non-chair hogged lounger in the Solarium, Mr. Sun is glorious! 
Our Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle was a little smaller than I anticipated, but a good number nevertheless. (The CD Mercedes coordinated the draw.) Sadly, I did not win a prize although one of my MDR table mates did. Thanks for the free food and drink, Royal Caribbean ?

I then decided to kill time in the casino afterward and lost the $7 I won yesterday plus the $10 I originally put in both machines lol. (?Hey, big spender!?)
Decided afterward to finally make an appearance and took a dip in the Solarium while waiting for the World’s Sexiest Man competition to start.

The World’s Sexiest Man competition was hilarious, Magic Marvin is an awesome activities manager! (He and Mercedes work so well together, their morning show is really entertaining ?)

 

(This dude Darryl ended up winning the contest?)

I went back to the Solarium, and, after my dip in the pool, discovered that someone has taken my towel? ? No clue where it went, but, no worries, we managed to exchange it for a new one after explaining that other one had been misplaced. 
Anyway, I’ll probably stop at the Cafe for a quick bite to eat as it is getting close to dinner. It is formal night tonight which means MDR, Captain’s Reception, Christmas tree lighting, and production show in the theatre. 

Image from Port Miami Facebook page

Another cruise is soon to start and after few discussions with myself I decided to write something . not promising tons of updates (need to work also ?) but will try.
This cruise was booked around two month ago when we just came back from our Symphony cruise , I was looking for a cruise  for my spouse birthday and the dates/price worked. When I booked the cruise I had the option of balcony or Junior suite , the difference was 600$ , we booked the balcony. For many days I was sorry for not booking the JS as we both have 71 C&A points , JS would brought us to Diamond ...  so I kept browsing everyday just to see  that all the JS gone. Few weeks after I saw one JS coming up and the price different was 200 $ ! , I called as fast as I could and successfully re booked and got the JS (that was a good answer to the question  - can you change your cabin after final payment) . sometime YOLO cost more ?
The plan :
Flying to Miami , take a car , drive to Orlando for three nights, Enjoy Universal park  + some shopping and on Sunday drive to Miami to catch allure.  crazy I know but I could find only flight to Miami using miles and my spouse really had the craving for  hot butter beer. I kept browsing United site everyday hoping to find a flight that will take us to Orlando ans save me the 3.5 hour drive after a long flight , what do you know , two days before our scheduled departure I found one , so I quickly changed our flight to Miami (via Swiss) to a direct Newark flight with a connection to Orlando , the bonus was that the Miami flight started at 5 am while the Orlando one 12 PM .
Where we go and what we are planning  :
Day -3 Flying to Orlando , connect during the flight to work to cover my vacation (somehow not all my clients been told I am out for this week) . 
Day -2 Universal/adventure island - We both love this park and feel it has just the right attraction  combination.
Day -1  Shopping , working (again) and resting.
Day 1 - Miami Terminal A
Day 2 - Nassau , no plans currently , maybe to stay on the ship ,maybe to walk around for a while.
Day 3 - Sea day - sushi class
Day 4 - Cuzumel - Going to the downtown and maybe some other activities 
Day 5 - Roatan - ATV rides and a beach brake 
Day 6 - Costa Maya - We booked the Maya Chan per the recommendations from this site.
Day 7 - Sea day.
Day 8 - Flying back home 
Day - 3 
It was as stormy day back home so we decide to take a taxi and not just walk to the train, arriving to the airport was quick (20 minutes) and check in was very fast. soon we found our self in the launch were I had to lead a working call (good the launch was empty) while sharing a presentation, surprisingly it went very well. I even found sometime to buy myself a book. Flight was on time , during the first minutes of the flights before we got over the storm clouds we heard twice a loud noise and very bright light , nothing that force the plane to turn around  but still alarming. 15 minutes later the captain called it "our exiting take off". rest of the flight went Ok , saw some movies and eat a good lunch.  11 hours later we landed at Newark , immigration was quick and we could wait for our Orlando flight at the new United Launch (yes working again) , it was a good place to eat dinner. The Orlando flight was delayed for about one hour but it was not too bad.  I slept most of the internal flight , landing around 10:30 PM , we quickly collected our suitcases and pickup the rental car from Avis. 20 minutes after we were at the hotel , just about time for me to take another working call  with a south eastern client (and for my spouse complaining that this is not vacation if I am taking calls all the time) . 
Only one picture for today.

   
 
 

So last year at Christmas I dug out some old trains and added some new ones for the grandkids. I have always enjoyed the trains but never had the time for an extravagant layout. Still don't....
When thinking about getting the trains out this year it reminded me of our Alaska cruise with the fantastic Alaska Railroad ride from Anchorage to Seward, a ride I'll not soon forget. I started to look around to see if anyone made any similar to what we rode. Well I almost the exact locomotive! Ours was a GP40-2, No. 3013. Atlas makes a GP40-2 No. 3008. Had to have it and since it only comes in DCC (sound, etc.) I had to upgrade my controller, too! It really is cool how close the model is to the real deal.:
Here is my wife with No. 3013 in Seward:

Here's the model:

 
And here's a video of today's purchase:
Alaskatrain video
 
 

I can fix that! What's your email address.... rest assured you will be receiving emails in no time...they might not be from RCCL, but hey...publishers clearinghouse, Reatives from Nigeria (Millionaire) willing to share it with you ?, pharmaceutical companies and much much more are waiting patiently for that email address ?

IIRC, all of these options -- loungers, beach bed, bungalow, and cabana -- are based on one person buying them and then indicating who else in his/her party will be using it. So if you need a total of four then you only need two people to buy them, total cost $90.
That said, I still think that with a party of four or more, going the bungalow or cabana route is much better in spite of the higher cost. You have guaranteed shade, the cabanas actually have a ceiling fan installed to keep you cool on a hot day, and the attendant taking care of you just makes it a nicely indulgent beach day. Now, if you think you'll spend 90% of your time away from the place and hanging out in the water or doing other things, then the loungers may be more than enough.

The on the water cabanas are truly right on the water. Each one has a stairway going right into the water, so you never have to walk across the beach or through any crowds. The regular cabana is set back from the water a bit, so you have some beach to use if you want and you have to walk a short distance to go swimming.
For only two people, I think a cabana is overkill. Those are sized and priced where I think you need at least a party of four to get the best use and value. Bungalow is much more reasonably priced, and gives you most of the perks of the cabanas.

We booked Soualiga Adventures. So "neither" in terms of the original post topic. ?
You can find my review of them here:
 

Sounds like this is New RoyalUp program..if so.... You are the FIRST person that i have actually heard get an upgraded room. Congrats!

"Hey, first robin of Spring! Lemme book an ABC island run!"
?

Oh yes. Not home from Bermuda even two weeks, my wife asks if there are any cruises that go to Bermuda during Teachers Convention week, "so we could at least bring our younger daughter with us." This was after *I* was the one saying we kind of needed to think about being in dry dock for 2019! Well, nothing available during that week (at least not on Royal; NCL had a sailing there, but I've heard enough negatives about NCL in general plus recent reviews of that ship in particular that we decided not to try them, at least this time). We kindly offered an alternative cruise option for that week to our younger daugther, and after she declined we basically said, "Ah, the heck with it. Let's just go back to Bermuda again in October next year! The kids got by fine on their own last time, they can do it again." ?

Following! Hope the flight is smooth, and the cruise spectacular!

Well, for sure LNG is coming to Port Canaveral. I just heard on the Cruise Radio podcast that Carnival's newest ship, which is LNG-fueled, is going to home port in PC and that they're constructing a new terminal building for it.

Hey Everyone!
We're on Celebrity Edge for a three night preview cruise ahead of our seven night sailing in January.  Follow the live blog at the below link, and of course look for loads of pics on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  I'll answer questions as quickly as I can.
Spoiler: This ship really lives up to the hype.  Not perfect, but truly impressive.
https://www.cruisehabit.com/tags/celebrity-edge-live-blog

Never posted here before, but I find this incredibly funny, so thought I would share. My upcoming cruise got "upgraded." :D

Oh yes. Not home from Bermuda even two weeks, my wife asks if there are any cruises that go to Bermuda during Teachers Convention week, "so we could at least bring our younger daughter with us." This was after *I* was the one saying we kind of needed to think about being in dry dock for 2019! Well, nothing available during that week (at least not on Royal; NCL had a sailing there, but I've heard enough negatives about NCL in general plus recent reviews of that ship in particular that we decided not to try them, at least this time). We kindly offered an alternative cruise option for that week to our younger daugther, and after she declined we basically said, "Ah, the heck with it. Let's just go back to Bermuda again in October next year! The kids got by fine on their own last time, they can do it again." ?

The menu seems to be standard fleet-wide, with minor variations based on what the chef chooses to do with a given course's preparation and whether a given seating has a significant number of repeat guests -- One the live blogs on the main site, by Ric, noted how he and several others who did Chef's Table on night 1 with a discount then went back for a second time (due to an even better discount that was offered); because there were so many returning guests, the chef altered the menu so that they didn't get the exact same menu a second time.
The menu does get updated every so often (annually?), but at least on my April 2018 sailing on Freedom, and @ellcee's / @Broons77's / my October 2018 sailing on Anthem, it was the same menu with slight differences in preparation and presentation. And the wine pairings for all 3 of us were fairly different, which itself made for some interesting conversations between us about the merits of the wines and whether one pairing worked better than another.
Chef's Table is definitely not something that fills up, even after embarkation. Each night they can accommodate up to It think 18 or 20 guests, and I've yet to hear of a fully-booked seating. My own seating on Freedom was only 9 people (I went solo), and I think @ellcee and @Broons77 were only a few more than that on each of their times. You can most likely wait until the cutoff date with Cruise Planner (3 days before embarkation) and still have your pick of the days.
Drink fatigue is real. The better a price you can get for the Deluxe package, the easier it is to "break even" across the trip and not feel like you need to be having a "party like it's 1999" day every day. If you think that bringing your allowed two bottles of wine would be enough, at least with MDR dinner drinks, to cut down the amount of drinking you'd be paying a la carte to less than the daily package cost, consider skipping the Deluxe package and just get Refreshment packages instead. Then you have all the non-alcoholic stuff covered and you can get alcohol as / when / where you want it.

"Hey, first robin of Spring! Lemme book an ABC island run!"
?

Oh yes. Not home from Bermuda even two weeks, my wife asks if there are any cruises that go to Bermuda during Teachers Convention week, "so we could at least bring our younger daughter with us." This was after *I* was the one saying we kind of needed to think about being in dry dock for 2019! Well, nothing available during that week (at least not on Royal; NCL had a sailing there, but I've heard enough negatives about NCL in general plus recent reviews of that ship in particular that we decided not to try them, at least this time). We kindly offered an alternative cruise option for that week to our younger daugther, and after she declined we basically said, "Ah, the heck with it. Let's just go back to Bermuda again in October next year! The kids got by fine on their own last time, they can do it again." ?

Oh yes. Not home from Bermuda even two weeks, my wife asks if there are any cruises that go to Bermuda during Teachers Convention week, "so we could at least bring our younger daughter with us." This was after *I* was the one saying we kind of needed to think about being in dry dock for 2019! Well, nothing available during that week (at least not on Royal; NCL had a sailing there, but I've heard enough negatives about NCL in general plus recent reviews of that ship in particular that we decided not to try them, at least this time). We kindly offered an alternative cruise option for that week to our younger daugther, and after she declined we basically said, "Ah, the heck with it. Let's just go back to Bermuda again in October next year! The kids got by fine on their own last time, they can do it again." ?

"Hey, first robin of Spring! Lemme book an ABC island run!"
?

Good morning everyone!
After following a ton of great live blogs, reviews on this site, I have decided to document my time aboard Adventure of the Seas commencing tomorrow ? I had intended to write a pre-cruise post yesterday, but, as it turns out, my day was completely crazy (thankfully booked a day off of work to complete my tasks and finish packing!). Currently writing this from Toronto Pearson airport with much needed coffee, flight to Fort Lauderdale has been delayed, so I have some time to start this after all ? 
A little bit about me:
I’m in my early 40s, single, and cruising solo (actually love to travel on my own). My last cruise with Royal Caribbean was back in February 2008 aboard Sovereign of the Seas, but my family has actually taken quite a few cruises since then with other lines (most recently DCL aboard the Magic in March 2017). As I recalled having a blast on my first cruise, there was no doubt in my mind which cruise line I would take my next vacation with! 
Pre-cruise thoughts:
I booked this cruise, an eight night Eastern Caribbean itinerary on Adventure, last August, a little over 16 months ago, and am booked in a studio interior stateroom in the basement on Deck Two. Why so far ahead in advance do you ask? Well, I actually scored a great price and the few remaining rooms sold out quickly. (Let’s hear it for listening to @Matt!)
Anything else? I prepurchased the sofa plus Voom (physically cannot drink as much booze as you guys can lmao) as well as gratuities. My objectives for this cruise are a) not losing money to the casino (???this will NOT happen, trust me, but a girl can only dream) and b) to leave the ship with as minimal balance as possible. 
Anyway, I’m really looking forward to the itinerary, all new ports for me, which leads me to my next topic...
Itinerary:
Friday, December 7th: arrive at Fort Lauderdale, stay overnight at AirBnB off Las Olas (scored great deal on both). Meeting up with a mod of one of the subreddits we moderate together for dinner at Rocco’s on Las Olas. Will pick up wine (let me know if you have any wine or store recs) and any last minute incidentals tonight before retiring to bed. 
Saturday, December 8th: embarkation day! 
Sunday, December 9th: sea day
Monday, December 10th: Labadee - nothing planned
Tuesday, December 11th: San Juan - self-guided walking tour
Wednesday, December 12th: St. Maarten - SXM Island Tour I through Bernards Tours
Thursday, December 13th: St. Kitts - Grand Tour of St. Kitts through Thenford Grey
Friday, December 14th: sea day
Saturday, December 15th: sea day (dining at Giovanni’s for lunch on one of these two sea days)
Sunday, December 16th: in which Christine is kicked off the ship disembarkation day. Late flight home (9 pm), planning to store luggage at FLL airport until 5:30 pm cut-off. Guess whatever I didn’t get a chance to see today, I’ll be able to do that on my last day.
As I wrap this up for now, just wanted to add that there are quite a few firsts for me on this trip:

First cruise on Royal since 2008 (feel like a newbie again LOL)
First cruise SOLO
First visit to all of the port of calls mentioned

Let me know if you have any questions! 
Christine

Im just glad they wasnt staying in a GS! Can you imagine her getting concierge to do it for her? ? 
I did wonder if they had an upside down pineapple on their door though. 
 

Bermuda will do that to you --- she has a certain "draw" that can't be denied --- @JLMoran will understand that.  We had just gotten back from our first trip to Bermuda (Sept. 2016) --- and -- while we were sitting up around the bonfire (and drinking beers) a couple of weeks later -- we booked it again for 2017 -- turned out to be the fun filled Hurricane Jose Cruise.......we still had a blast --- Bermuda is just one of those places that you just instantly fall in love with (and the proximity for us in Maryland is an added bonus)