bcarney

They do, my daughter loves it with the fries.

The grapefruit habanero daquiri in the Schooner Bar is quite nice. And spicy. :)

I can see it now - they'll weigh you when you board, and again when you disembark, and then charge you a "gluttony fee" for every additional pound you exit with. In the past I would have broken even, but with drink packages and middle age creeping in I fear I'll have to cough up the fee. It's coming via the airlines anyway... https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/02/forget-your-checked-luggage-this-airline-is-weighing-passengers.html

LOL, I have a buddy from Spain that brought back three (3!) suitcases full of rum from a cruise we were on together (we toured a bunch of distilleries in the southern Caribbean on Adventure OTS last year). Since each bottle was different, the just let him through since they figured he wasn't reselling/serving them at a bar. If you're ever going to Madrid let me know as I know of a bar with a large rum section. :)

For those sailing with stops in the US Virgin Islands, if you buy 1 liter of liquor produced in an insular US Territory (like the USVI), you are allowed to bring 5 liters back in total duty free, from anywhere - as long as 1 of the 5 is from the USVI. I'd recommend what @arebee purchased - Bone's Rum from St. Thomas IIRC. I had it last year at the Miami Rum Renaisannce festival and quite enjoyed it.

In the Main Dining Room all you have to do is ask for more than one of whatever you desire. I frequently get an app or two, a soup, 1 entree, a curry, and generally I get a dessert forced upon me even though I'm stuffed. :) On lobster night some people order multiple tails. Not that I've done that personally, LOL. For the specialty dining options like Chops you get a bunch of apps and sides, one steak or main entree, and a dessert (or more than one if you ask for it). Places like Giovanni's, well, if you leave there hungry you are doing it wrong. :) They bring out so much food you risk physical harm to your internal organs if you eat it all!

@JaeBoogie, we did guarantee rooms twice on RC. Our first RC cruise was a guarantee Balcony, and we wound up with a handicap accessible balcony. Basically, a bigger bathroom. The cabin may have been bigger than other balconies, but it was out first RC cruise (and only our second cruise ever) so I had nothing to compare it to. Our second was guarantee was on Enchantment, and we wound up with a room directly above the speakers mounted to the ceiling in the theatre. On the first and I think second to last nights the room literally vibrated from all the noise until past 11pm. Most time it wouldn't have been an issue but we had our 5 and 3 year olds with us, and it kept them up too late. So basically it's the luck of the draw. Now that the kids are older I may try a guarantee again. Maybe.

Based on my experience, Tampa is second only to Baltimore in terms of ease of getting on/off the ship. When we sailed from Baltimore we parked in the lot right next to ship. Not a parking structure, an actual parking lot. Couldn't have been easier. In Tampa you can park across the street. As mentioned, if you fly in it's only a half hour or so from the airport. And if you overnight downtown or in Ybor City there is the trolley that runs right to the embarkation location, and many hotels have complimentary shuttles. I have to say, next to San Juan Tampa is my most favorite place to sail from, and I've started going there for non-cruise trips as well.

Why teachers?

I haven't been here yet (I'll be visiting in about 30 days) but this place https://www.facebook.com/Antillia-Brewing-Company-411999235629088/ has highly rated brews. Naked Fisherman St. Lucia India Pale Ale and Aphrodisiac Ale (a stout) are supposed to be great. I'll imbibe and report back. :)

I like both styles; I tend to go for IPA and such in the summer/fall, and stouts in the winter. I just recently acquired a taste for porters when I tried one at a nearby brewpub - it reminded me of drinking dark, cold coffee. To me the NEIPAs taste like orange juice.

This isn't beer related, but in 2016 I was part of a rum group cruise. We hit Topper's in St. Maarten, Brinley's in St. Kitts, Antigua Distilleries in Antigua (where I scored a bottle that was distilled before I was in high school, 1981!), St. Lucia Distilleries, and St. Nicolas Abbey and Mt. Gay in Barbados. At Mt. Gay we actually got to blend our own rum. Had a lot of great experiences, and now have a few people that will be friends for a lifetime - that's priceless. In 2018 we're doing the same, only swapping out Grenada for St. Maarten, and adding Puerto Rico. It's an 11 day on Serenade out of Ft. Lauderdale. DM me if anyone has interest in joining us.

Way to go, Tplanav1! We're on the sailing right before yours - I'll leave the ship tidy for you. :)

LOL! The MDR staff understand that on the first night people may not have their luggage in their cabin yet, so they are a little lax on the "no shorts" rule. I'll be honest, I use that to my advantage... on pretty much every cruise. :)

It could be worse - on Norwegian it's $89.00 USD per person per day plus 18% gratuity and beverage service charge. For for a seven day cruise, it's $105.02 per person per day, for a total of $1470.28 per cabin. OUCH!

100% certain - booked it on Thursday. :)

Has anyone done the "Barbados Harrison's Cave and St Nicolas Abbey Tour" offered by ViaTour , and if so, what did you think about it? The Harrison's Cave excursion through RC is $252 for the 4 of us, but for about $25 more we can take the one through ViaTour that includes a visit to St. Nicholas Abbey. Any thoughts about the tour company itself? I visited the Caves about 18 years ago, and the Abbey last year but that was without my family, so I'm more interested in opinions about the tour guide vs the excursion itself. Thanks.

Test away - that's what it's for, LOL. They may have changed producers over the years. Zaya used to be a great rum (made by the same folks that created Ron Zacapa), when it was made in Guatemala. Production was moved to Trinidad, and the move brought it more vanilla and spice notes, and a little less sweetness. Still good, but not the same. Yes, I am a rum geek - I was a consumer judge at the Miami Rum Festival last year. http://rumxp.com/RumJury.html EDIT: OK, it appears to be a blend of rums distilled elsewhere, so it's possible the "formula" has changed. https://refinedvices.com/the-littlest-rum-factory

I bought a bottle once, about 6 years ago. Good for mixing tropical drinks, but the orange was a bit overwhelming to me. But I can see where it would fit well in tiki recipes that call for that type of citrus notes.

IIRC you're from Oz, right? I've not tried it, but my understanding is that Bundaberg Dark Oak is splendid. It's probably not as sweet as Ron Zacapa, but it would make a nice sipper.

I'm a rum drinker and occasionally find something worth drinking straight; usually it's a sweet variety like Ron Zacapa, but it'll do. Favorite mixed drink is the Mango Habanero Daiquiri which can be found in the Schooner Bar.

November 18, 2017 sailing on Adventure of the Seas.

Our kids stay with us for dinner now (currently 8 and 10 years old) primarily because my son wants to eat steak every single night of the cruise. Back when he was an omnivore RC had this program where you go to dinner, the kids have an expedited meal (half hour), and then you brought them out of the dining room at a certain time where Adventure Ocean staff meets you and brings the kids to AO, while you and your spouse breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the rest of your meal in peace. IIRC we had a 6pm dinner and a 6:30pm pickup. I don't think they offered it the first night, but I may not be 100% positive about that.

We took the kids on a road trip to Niagara two years ago; it's about a 5.5 hour drive from my place. Lots of fun and definitely worth the trip, the falls were really cool. About the only thing I'd say to skip is the dinner at the top of the sky needle (can't recall the name of the building), the meal was something out of a time warp. The view was great though. Oh yeah, the speed limit for the Canadian port of the trip was 62 mph. Definitely seemed SLOOOOOWWWW after driving 80ish in Michigan. There were big signs saying that if you were caught driving XX many kilometers per hour over the speed limit, they immediately impound your car. It was enough to keep me law abiding.

@rjac you know waay too much about me.... LOL :) (it's corned beef hash covered in sausage gravy for breakfast, and curry for dinner)