Skid

24 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

 

How far was the Oasis Lagoon pool from South Beach? Close enough to walk over every now and then?

Yes, a very nice 5-10 minute walk along the beach. Since South Beach is closed for construction we'll have to split between Chill Island and the pool. The pool is so huge, it's actually not terribly far from anything. Picture doesn't do it justice.

Going back in October. We are sure it will still be great, but we'll surely miss the bungalow we had on South Beach in May. 

1 hour ago, JohnK6404 said:

Ahhh... the things you research online while waking up to a cup of coffee on a SAT morning!

Darn it John, I was JUST going to book that stateroom and YOU pulled it offline for 15 minutes with your mock booking. Shame on you!

7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Can’t wait to see what Mike is like!  8 more days!

Find him on Day 1 and tell him he MUST do his magic act along with his personal story. He did about 20 minutes when hosting a show in the theater. Tell him you are also Canadian and will be very disappointed if he doesn't do it!

On 7/19/2019 at 1:21 PM, AshleyDillo said:

Kinda looks like this:

http://greglasley.com/nonBirds/comwhitetail.html

 

You are the best! Has to be it. THANKS!

27 minutes ago, Lady Sybil said:

Hi,  I just booked a cruise on Adventure of the Seas.   While watching You Tube videos it seems that there are no outlets near the beds in balcony rooms.  I use a CPAP machine and this could be a problem as I don't believe extension cords are allowed.  If anyone has any information I'd appreciate hearing it.  Thanks!

Go to this Royal Caribbean website, fill out and submit the form. They will reply. An extension cord and a bottle of distilled water will be waiting for you in your cabin. If for some reason they are not, just ask your cabin steward.

You'll can also ask your steward to run the cord under the bed and tape it down so you don't trip on it. Or bring magnetic hooks an run it across the top...all walls, doors and ceilings are metal. 

Happy sailing.

With so many different geographic areas, professions and hobbies represented on this blog, I am guessing someone knows.

This little guy has been hanging around all day. If I get close, it flies away and comes right back. (love-hate relationship?-hehe)

I tried to find a website where I can upload a picture for identification but they all seem to want me to register. Thought I'd try asking here first. Next step will be to get to one of our county offices.

I have asked around and have gotten all types of responses from a drone to a "drag in" fly.

Thanks.

18 hours ago, ThyriC said:

I wish there'd be more smoker friendly areas that dont intrude on the nonsmokers.  Like installing better filtration areas in the casino as well as doors so that nonsmokers dont have to be inundated by the smoke cloud.  A cigar bar would be just heaven to me.   Same with the outdoor smoking areas.  I dont want nonsmokers needing to walk through my cloud just to get to where they need to go. But I also dont want smoking to be made so inconvenient for me that I need to crawl inside of the funnel, do a handstand, while carrying the hope diamond just to be able to smoke.  I try, I really REALLY do try to be considerate of the non smokers.  I dont blow my smoke in their direction, I dont hold my cigarette out into their path of travel, and I move my cigarette so a child doesnt see and think that I must be a really cool person and thus smoking must be cool.  But some of the hysterics I've seen from nonsmokers, entering into the small smoker friendly areas is a bit much.  The wild waving of hands, the exaggerated coughing, the need to "inform" me that its a horrible habit, etc.  Hey I get it, its a gross habit.  It'll likely kill me some day.  But until a cruise is made smoke free, we both need to inhabit the same space, lets try to get along.  I'll try not to inconvenience you with my smoke, you try not to go into my dark smoky corner waving hands. 

 

17 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I am a former smoker and I am with ThyriC on this one.  I just roll my eyes when I see people running through the casino with their shirts covering their whole face and gesturing wildly, as if that’s going to help.  Find another way to get to where you’re going, for God’s sake !  It may be out of your way, but you CAN get to where you’re going without trapesing through the casino where you KNOW there’s going to be smoke !

No one hates having a smoldering cigarette in their face more than me but if it ever gets THAT bad, I will just quit going in there.  It’s my choice.

We do not smoke but do think about this on ships where the Schooner Bar is right next to the casino. Hey, it had to be someplace. We usually go up a deck, walk across, and back down. A tiny bit inconvenient, but that should be our biggest problem in life.  @ThyriC, yours is the best post I've ever seen on this topic. Well said.

22 minutes ago, Matt said:

  On 7/14/2019 at 2:02 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

The only thing that I did not like was that Mitch did not lead the Crazy Quest.  He let the AM do it.  She was pretty good too but I wanted to see him lead it.  Same thing happened on Harmony in March, Ricky let his AM handle it as well.

You guys have been on more RC cruises than I have (5 and 2 booked), and although Abe Hughes was my favorite CD, Mike S. on Symphony in May did the absolute best Quest we have seen. It was the most fun of the week (and not just because I ended up participating).

On 7/15/2019 at 8:24 PM, Hoski said:

I also believe there is a comma missing and you must be fully covered and wear shoes and a shirt.

On 7/15/2019 at 8:18 AM, ChessE4 said:

there is a comma missing

On 7/14/2019 at 11:34 PM, Mljstr said:

I am sure this is a punctuation issue

Proper punctuation can be life saving

@Sydney97 welcome to the forum and congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

Good info above from @CruisinUpinLife and @DandA . Here is a great calculator that was developed and posted by @Grenadyr. 

Also know that, depending on how much alcohol you like, you may consider the refreshment package that can be gotten on sale for $20/pp/pd. It includes everything in the deluxe package except the alcohol. We would order a virgin frozen drink (covered in the package) and sometimes add a shot on the side that would run about $10.

Lastly, if you do purchase any package and then see it at a lower price. You can cancel your original order and rebuy at the lower price (refund will take about 3-4 days, unless you paid with on board credit which will show back in your account immediately).

@mom2mybugs safe travels Jane, Jeff & Madison. Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to Jeff. This will be an amazing trip! Happy sailing!

@JennyJenny

And now I am even more impressed. Wishing you the best of health for decades to come and looking forward to you sharing your accomplishments. I know there will be many!

23 minutes ago, JennyJenny said:

I "compete" as in I enter and get a shirt and medal and do not feel any guilt over eating a nice juicy burger with a fried egg on it or indulging in a Starbucks frappacino as I drive home.

That part made me laugh--I knew someone who would go out for ice cream with her friends every week right after their weight watchers meeting. And it seemed like every WW place had an ice cream parlor right next door.

@JennyJenny

1. There is a LOT of good stuff in that post!

2. My chiropractor is currently in training for his FOURTH Iron Man competition. All I can say is WOW! Just curious--do you compete or train others? I am impressed either way!

Got me!!!!. As my kids would say, don't I feel sheepish?!!!! 

@HeWhoWaits, I am not sure what you mean. It's dated April 2019 and mentions a 2022 rollout. How does that tell me if anyone has heard about it or if it is true?

Happen to see this on line from April. Have not heard anything about this. Looks really amazing if true. Anyone have any information?

https://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/blog/news/master-of-the-skies/

1 hour ago, GatorCruiser said:

Hello everyone. Recent Lurker now member with a quick question for those that have sailed on Symphony. My wife and I are about to go on our first cruise with Royal and we are doing a 7 day on symphony. Anyway, does anyone have any insider tips about the ship I should know. I have read this site extensively and have watched youtube videos about SOS, but would like some firsthand accounts of the ship and whats cool. This is indeed a great site with a great community involvement as has been mentioned before which is the reason I joined. Thank you in advance

We were on Symphony in May You can see my live blog here

Here are some things for you to think about..hope this helps.

For a GREAT view, go to deck 14 port side, all the way forward past the cabins. Go through the door on your left and you'll be on a bridge wing overlooking the helipad. It's a great uncrowded spot with chairs and loungers. Can get pretty windy, but great anyway.

Speaking of uncrowded, this was our first time on an Oasis class ship and we were absolutely amazed that it never once felt crowded. What a pleasure. Take your time to walk around the ship and explore. Every deck, every staircase, every nook and cranny has amazing and sometimes interactive art work. Check out the musical stairs on deck 15 leading up to the Windjammer. Also check out the picture on deck 5 in the entrance lobby to the MDR...it actually puts you into the picture when you stand in front of it.

The entertainment on this ship is the best. Make sure to make all your reservations as soon as they come out. Every show on this ship is great. Most importantly, make your reservation for the Aqua Theater show for as early in the cruise as possible. Reason for that is because that show can easily be cancelled and rescheduled due to ocean caused movement. If your reservation is scheduled towards the end of the cruise, you may well miss it altogether. (In our case the day 2 show was cancelled, but we got to see the rescheduled show on day 6.)

Suggestion: make your reservations on cruise planner as soon as they become available. Standby lines for the shows were all very long. Same thing if you want bungalows, beach beds or clamshell loungers on CocoCay. They don't have a lot of them and they sell out quickly. aaaah, Cococay...what a magnificent job they did (are are still doing) there. Phenomenal. 

For events on the Promenade (such as the 80's show, which despite what I said before, obviously does get crowded))...instead if standing there, we arrived early  at the Schooner Bar on Deck 6 (Promenade is on Deck 5) and got a small table and chairs that overlooked the stage. It was perfect.

If your itinerary includes St. Kitts, I highly recommend the Thenford Gray Grand tour.  Others on this blog have also recommended it and everyone we have sent has had a great time. He is the best tour guide we ever had. Even if you are not lucky enough to get him personally, it will most likely be one of his family members and you won't be disappointed. It's a 6 hour tour, includes beach time and costs only $55 per person. He WILL get you back to thip on time. We have done it and this past rip my sister in law and her friend went and loved it.

If your itinerary includes St. Thomas, we chose the Royal's Trunk Bay (in St. John) outing just to have the piece of mind of the ship waiting for us. We paid $66 for it and felt it was worth it. It included a narrated 40 minute or so boat transport from St. Thomas to St. John, a narrated 20 minute or so ride from dock in St John to Trunk Bay Beach, guided snorkeling with free rental gear. The driver to the beach (on very winding roads) was the safest, nicest driver we've ever had. If you get the chance, ask for Smittie. The beach was actually not crowded at all (because most on the tour did the snorkeling further down). It came in 3rd on my beach list, tied with Megan's Bay in St. Thomas.  1 is Barbados and 2 is Bermuda (we have not been to Europe).

Cabin: We stayed in 10264 (ocean view balcony). We loved the location, no noise at all, close to elevators and midway between dining on 5, pool on 15, Windjammer on 16, Boardwalk on 6 and Central Park on 8.

If you happen to be doing any specialty dining, 150 Central Park was the best ship restaurant we have been on. Loved it--food and service were top notch.

We did buy the KEY at $19.99 per person and thought it was worth every penny. The debarkation day breakfast and escort off the ship to awaiting luggage was fantastic. Alo, an unpublished perk we had was that we never had to get our card scanned for pool towels. What made that so great, besides avoidng any erroneousd charges for unreturned towels, is that we have had to wait on line to get our card scanned when returning them. Just drop them in the bin and walk away.

Feel free to ask about anything else and happy sailing

1 hour ago, ChessE4 said:

So we learn to accept a changing language.....

ODE TO MY SPELL CHECKER
eye halve a spelling chequer,
it came with my pea sea.
it plainly marques fore my revue,
miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

eye strike a key and type a word,
and weight for it two say;
weather eye am wrong oar write,
it shows me strait a weigh;

as soon as a mist ache is maid;
it nose bee fore two long, and
eye can put the error rite.
Its rare lea ever wrong.

eye have run this poem threw it;
i am shore your pleased two no,
its letter perfect awl the weigh
my chequer tolled me sew

1 hour ago, KD412 said:

My fiancé and I are taking two cruises (one on Navigator and one on Symphony) in September 2020 for our honeymoon

We were in Wonderland on Symphony in May. While it was a unique experience, it's not something we would do again. I would HIGHLY suggest, especially if you plan on just one specialty restaurant, that you go to 150 Central Park. The ambiance, food and service rivals any restaurant, land or sea. 

If your fiance is not also vegetarian, he'll have a much bigger selection. And if, by some chance, you eat fish they have halibut. You can certainly stop in there to ask about off menu vegetarian options and if not happy with the choices you can then just cancel your reservation. Also, you can get as many appetizers and desserts as your heart desires.

Oh, btw, that garden martini you see on the menu is GREAT!

CONGRATULATIONS on your upcoming wedding and happy sailing!

Here is the menu for 150 Central Park from May on Symphony. The menu for Wonderland is posted on my live blog on page 4, but is kind of illegible. I reviewed both restaurants on that blog.

1 hour ago, JennyJenny said:

*insert eye roll here*

5 minutes ago, VVJAS said:

We are sailing on Symphony of the Seas and plan to use the expedited Online Checkin process; however, I have a concern about timing of receipt of the Sea Pass. We plan to board ship prior to cabin availability and want to be able to get a cocktail started with the already purchased unlimited beverage package - but I believe we will need the actual Sea Pass - right?  How best to get if boarding early with online 

You use your set sail pass that you used to board the ship. That acts as your seapass card until you get the actual card. You can get drinks, make purchases, etc.

Happy sailing!

12 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

 Are you in jobs considered to be a high-stress or other mentally draining job, like @SpeedNoodles or @lauraodonnell86 who I recall are 911 operators? Or just great companies with really good policies for long-time employees?

Great question. With my old company, I had 25 vacation, 11 holidays and paid sick days as needed.

I am very curious what our friends outside the US have regarding retirement. What my old company had is just about unheard of now here. They provided a fully funded pension plan that we did not even have to contribute to AND they matched dollar for dollar (later changed to .50) up to 6% on what we contributed to our 401K. 

My biggest concern is for our children...planning and saving for retirement is so much harder now.

1 hour ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

We are considering Oasis too but at the moment we are leaning towards Adventure. We sailed Oasis twice and loved everything about her.

FYI, if you don't mind flying one way, Adventure has a 12 night Southern Caribbean (ABCs, Antigua, St. Thomas and 6 sea days) repo cruise departing from Ft. Lauderdale and ending in Cape Liberty in May. To me, that's getting a ship we love, a great itinerary and a local port. Best of all worlds. Will we see you on board?

8 minutes ago, BigKarl said:

Soooo...   Even if you have the original bottle,  make sure that you only take the amount listed on the label.  if you need additional amounts do not combine them into a single bottle with less quantity listed than you have pills.

Thank you for this great tip.