hmills96
-
Posts
38 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by hmills96
-
-
We'll be on Navigator of the Seas for a 4 nighter to Nassau and Coco Cay, leaving on Dec 2!
I'll be posting here:
Periscope: hmills96
Instagram: TapsandTomes
-
20 hours ago, NS8VN said:
Am I missing something? Hurricane Florence is tracking to the Southeast of Bermuda in the 5-day. Even if it stays on a straight line from there (it won't) it wouldn't be in the NorthEast for 10+ days. What is the concern?
It is now. AccuWeather had scenario 1 tracking to the NE originally (link I posted). Looks like the models are now definitely showing a Southeast path. Good for me, bad for Bermuda.
-
Welp, it's happened. 2 days out from our Anthem NE/Canada cruise and we have a Tropical Storm headed to the NorthEast. Will have my eye on Tropical Storm Florence. It doesn't sound like it'll be too strong, and will hopefully turn north of us. But I imagine this would be a hard cruise to divert, unlike the Eastern vs Western Caribbean? I know Anthem is a bit infamous for getting caught in storms, so I really hope we aren't one of them!
-
10 hours ago, Iluv4n6 said:
@hmills96, thanks for the suggestions about beer-cruising the Northeast! We may check out the Portland brew bus on 9/2. I don't recall seeing a Halifax beer-centric excursion through Royal for our cruise, but will have to double-checked this...CP has been a bit finicky for me tonight, so I will try again later to be sure one didn't pop up and I missed it. With all the excellent beer options on this itinerary we are skipping the drink package this time...but if the drink card shows up half-way through our cruise we may have to mix in a few more onboard beverages.
Found it! It's Halifax Hop on for Hops.
-
On 8/18/2018 at 10:51 AM, karl_nj said:
Yes, looks like these ports are going to be great for craft beer. Especially Portland. But all the ports appear to have brewpubs, or craft breweries, or both.
My family and I will be on the sailing right before yours.
The only port I booked an excursion though Royal is for Bar Harbor. I thought about booking a tour privately, but I was worried about getting off the ship on-time since it's a tender port.
I've been to Saint John and Halifax before, but my daughter was quite young at the time (age 1 and 2) so we didn't do that much. Just walked around a little in port.
Last time in Halafax we didn't make it up to the Maritime Museum, so we plan to visit there this time. We'll just walk up there, I recall there being a beautiful walkway along the waterfront.
Last time in Saint John we went to the Tim Hortons and a small museum. This time we plan to take a long hike down the Saint John Harbour Passage to see the "reversing falls". By this point in the cruise, I'll probably need a several mile walk!
In Portland I hope to check out "The Holy Donut" and a few breweries and brewpubs.
We are actually on the sailing after yours, leaving Sept 6, and we have brew bus tours for both Portland and Halifax. Portland is booked through Maine Brew Bus, and the Halifax one is actually through Royal Caribbean. Here's the link for Maine Brew Bus. We are really looking forward to it, as we are huge beer people and that's what we like to do whenever we are in a new place! I've dubbed this #beercruise because there's just going to be SO MUCH BEER in the ports.
-
Just now, twangster said:
I'm not sure about up there, but here in Colorado, miles from any ocean, local restaurants and bars have stopped providing straws. Many are using re-usable straws, hard plastic or metal that get washed like the glasses and silverware are.
The elimination of disposable straws isn't just a cruise ship thing, it's an international movement that has little to with being PC.
It's definitely a positive change, especially if it leads to the reduction of plastic goods overall. I hate that I still want a straw with the frozen drinks myself...I think it's more a change in attitude than function.
However, I'm glad it's still an option for now, for selfish reasons, and because I know there are those on board who need a straw for accessibility reasons too.
-
2 hours ago, whenismynextcruise said:
Is RC banning straws now? I have heard of this new revolution elsewhere but until I saw this post I didn't realize that RC had adopted this. @J. Woody said they are on Harmony still. I am on Anthem in November. Does anyone know if they stopped allowing them on her? Is this a ship by ship thing until they cover the fleet? - Thanks
Matt did a blog post about it recently, that's why I was curious. I'll be on Anthem in a few weeks, so I'll try to come back and update you. It sounds like, though, that it won't be too big of a deal.
Here's the link: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/06/08/royal-caribbean-will-stop-using-plastic-straws-end-of-2018
-
I've gotten to the point where I rarely use straws when I go out anymore, so I don't think I'll miss them much on the ship. However, I do like frozen drinks (lava flow with Kraken, hello!), and those are just hard to drink without a straw! I'm trying to decide whether it's worth it to buy a fancy portable reusable one just for the cruise.
Do you guys miss the straws when you're onboard sipping your frozen drinks? Yay, nay?
-
-
-
We are going on Anthem in September for our 5 year anniversary, up the northern coast. We are starting to plan out the trip and need suggestions on what to do at the port stops. Some of them we have plans for: Boston we are going to catch a Red Sox game (probably won't get to see the whole thing, but have to mark that park off our MLB list), Halifax we've booked an RC beer tour, and I've found a Beer Bus in Portland that I think we're going to sign up for. However, the last two ports, Bar Harbor and Saint John New Brunswick, what are the must dos there? Bar Harbor I know is known for lobster, so gimme all the food recs. Saint John I know absolutely nothing about!
Also, if anyone has been up that coast or lives there, what is the weather in early September? Trying to figure out the clothing situation, assuming light layers?
-
My hubby booked an anniversary cruise for us in September 2018 up the coast of New England and Canada on Anthem! I have SO MUCH time to plan and pack, but I was curious if anyone had taken this cruise and what kinds of outfits to plan for. September on land can be warm, but I'm not sure how it is on sea.
Obviously, this is geared more towards ladies, but could use some tips for The Hubs too.
-
I didn't do a live blog during Oasis, as we didn't have internet, but I am going to be doing a series of posts on my blog about my experience. Just posted the first one, go check it out! http://ilayreading.com/2017/04/10/first-time-cruisers-review-of-oasis-of-the-seas/
- RestingBird and Matt
-
2
-
Oasis Update! There were plenty of options that fit the drinking package. However, Oasis did not have those fancy wine kegerator machines that Matt showed us from Anthem. Must be a Quantum class upgrade!
-
What is The Quest?
I've seen it mentioned on a few threads and I saw it on the itinerary on last years OTS cruise, but not sure exactly what it is.
Details?
It's basically this giant scavenger hunt within your team. On Oasis it was in Studio B. There are 6ish couples who are team leads, and the cruise director shouts out tasks--things to find in the audience, or things to accomplish. For example, 6 ladies bras, or 3 shoelaces tied together. The team leads have a card with their number on it, and as soon as the task is done/found, they run up to the cruise director with the object and the card, wave it in his face. The fastest teams get more points.
It's hilarious and fun--it's fast paced and I highly recommend going. ADULT RATED!
-
Our next one is Harmony on March 10 2018! Only 10 more months to go.
-
I HAVE to get my Sabor fix. Seriously.
Oh don't worry, there is a REAL Sabor right next door (across from Johnny Rockets), but I just didn't understand that cantina thing that was also labeled Sabor--it was just a standard bar.
Speaking of Johnny Rockets, we did see a few kids eating off the JR menu while their parents dined at Sabor. I'm not sure if the two restaurants are normally close on other ships, but I thought it was pretty cool that they brought JR food over for the littles. Easy way to get around a kids menu.
-
I must confess to having a bad breakfast habit on board. Take a small pile of corned beef hash, and smother it in country gravy. Yes, it looks as terrible as it sounds, but tastes great to me!
Sometimes I include a side of smoked salmon.
Gosh I'm glad I got that off my chest. :)
Looking forward to having this breakfast again in just under 200 days!
Hubs ate the corned beef hash every single morning, and now he won't be able to get it for another year! Poor thing. I hate it, so it isn't something we eat around here much!
-
I've seen that little outdoor Sabor on Oasis when I've watched some of the tours online, I assume that's what you mean by "cantina"? I've wondered what the difference is??
So I have an update to this after our Oasis cruise. Even though that little cantina bar in the center of the boardwalk says SABOR on its sign, it has absolutely no connection to the REAL Sabor. It was our very first stop on Embarkation day, and I asked if we could get the Sabor margaritas--but they just had the standard RC drink menus. I was satisfied with my LavaFlow, but I have no idea why they labeled it with a Sabor sign when it has no connection that I could tell. Maybe it did at one time, but it doesn't now.
Also, regarding the Ala Carte question--on Oasis it is still Ala Carte. There is no cover charge. Guac is $6, everything else is $5 or $10. We were pretty underwhelmed. The guac was pretty good, definitely the highlight of the meal. The rest was really underwhelming and we probably won't eat there again--maybe to stop and get margs and guac, but not a full lunch. I'll try Izumi instead next trip.
-
I agree with Matt, as so many things we use now charge with USB. One additional option is to leverage that 220V (European) outlet on the vanity by using an adapter, providing you only use it with dual-voltage devices. I have several, including this one http://amzn.to/2miYucG.
I'll shamelessly plug a post I wrote about alternatives to prohibited power strips: http://www.cruisehabit.com/power-strips-why-theyre-not-allowed-ships-and-how-safely-gain-some-extra-outlets
Doing last minute packing and trying to figure out if I need to put this in my checked or carry on luggage--we are flying, and the TSA rules are all so conflicting. I can find stuff on computer batteries and plugs, but I haven't been able to find anything on powerstrips. Experienced cruisers, help!
-
Yes they provided towels in the bathrooms, hand towels and face cloths too. They even give you a special towel to use as a floor mat. I learned about that one when my wife said I was drying myself off with a floor mat, it looks like a towel! Since then I've been noticing them in hotels so I guess she was right.
That would be a teeny tiny drying towel!
-
Say what ?? Since when ? I've never ever been on a Royal Caribbean cruise where they didn't provide soap and shampoo.....even if it is the kind in the dispense in the shower tube....
Ok...I HAVE heard about the mystery liquid.....but I was thinking more in terms of hotel mini bottles...
-
I've been trying to find this answer online, and found competing answers. Matt mentioned it briefly on Periscope today--but I couldn't tell exactly what he was referring to.
Is Vintages part of the drink package, or no? I know the flights are over the cost, but do you just have to pay the balance or all of it? Can you get glasses of wine at Vintages on your drink packages? (This is what I wasn't clear on, on the Periscope, as he was pointing to the wine machines.)
We love wine, and I would love to hang out there, but if it's not covered at all then it's a no go. And the fact that it is always so empty leads me to believe the drink packages hinder people from going there.
-
Slightly related/unrelated, but something I've been wondering, but it might be a dumb question. Do they provide regular washcloths and bathtowels in the rooms? I know they don't provide soap and shampoo like hotels, but I would think towels would be a nobrainer, right? Ok. Dumb question of the day quota complete. :D
What to do in St. Thomas
in Shore Excursions
Posted
We are visiting St. Thomas on Symphony in December (fingers crossed). Looking for guidance on what to do. We are doing both Labadee and Coco Cay, so not really looking for another beach day. Friends have suggested taking the gondola ride of the mountain, but I am terrified of heights, so that doesn't sound like a ton of fun to me. Any suggestions?