How Much Independence is Too Much? (with a Radiance prelude)

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, AshleyDillo said:

There was also a stir fry station.

One of the only things some smaller ships have over Wonder (and some other Oasis class ships) in my book... the cook-to-order stations. That used to be my wife's dinner most nights.

[jbrinkm]

19 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

The 6:10 mark shows the bathroom (I realized it was easier to find a random video than bug my wife).

Those look identical to Symphony's - although I don't remember having the old style drying line. I was looking for somewhere to drip dry and ended up using the metal hooks under the water controls. He talks about the banging of the door but that wasn't something that stood out to me at all. 

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

Usually I keep it way on the cooler side but this time it has to be just over into the warmer side for me not to be shivering!

I noticed that on Symphony also. I was worried because I'd been hearing complaints about warm ships a few weeks ago but our sailing tended towards cold, common spaces and the room. 

[OCSC Mike]

Just now, jbrinkm said:

He talks about the banging of the door but that wasn't something that stood out to me at all. 

Ours made a fairly loud bang but I don't care about the shower door. It was the actual bathroom door that did the same thing that was a bit annoying if one were using it in the middle of the night... but a strategically placed wash cloth at the bottom in the threshold took most of the bang away and let us close the door quietly without disabling the magnet that keeps the door firmly shut.

Our interior also got pretty freezing on Wonder (something we like about interiors). We usually didn't turn it all the way down until we were going to bed b/c it was making the cabin THAT cold.

[Ampurp85]

2 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

Those look identical to Symphony's - although I don't remember having the old style drying line. I was looking for somewhere to drip dry and ended up using the metal hooks under the water controls. He talks about the banging of the door but that wasn't something that stood out to me at all. 

I noticed that on Symphony also. I was worried because I'd been hearing complaints about warm ships a few weeks ago but our sailing tended towards cold, common spaces and the room. 

When I was on Wonder that banging from the shower door was annoying. I also had to turn the AC to warmer because it was too cold even for me. I think in these warmer sailing months things get warmer.

[Ampurp85]

I too have heard whispers of the removal of triangle hashbrowns. My concern is if they are removing hashbrowns in general or just replacing the shape .

Those "brunch" items were prevalent during my Wonder and Allure sailing in Jan/Feb. I thought it was just left over items they didn't want to toss until I also saw them on Allure. 

[SweetPea]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

My concern is if they are removing hashbrowns in general or just replacing the shape

I'd be afraid.  Very afraid. 

 

Norwegian went the same route and removed them all together!

[AshleyDillo]

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

Norwegian went the same route and removed them all together!

Yes! I noticed that on my NCL sailing..everyone was outraged! They also hide the cookies from genpop. We got a tray of them in our suite but none were ever available at the buffet.

[AshleyDillo]

Here are the picked over Crown Lounge offerings at 8pm.

I'm just here for the coffee. Nothing here is compelling enough for second dinner. The deviled eggs look sad compared to the ones I had on Radiance. 

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Here are the picked over Crown Lounge offerings at 8pm.

That’s the same sad 3-section warming tray I saw in 2022 & said it looked like something you’d get at Target for $19.99.

I’m gonna need more pics from Playmakers & Fish N Ships.

[AshleyDillo]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

That’s the same sad 3-section warming tray I saw in 2022 & said it looked like something you’d get at Target for $19.99.

I’m gonna need more pics from Playmakers & Fish N Ships.

I got the Buffalo crunch roll with my "spicy" margarita on boarding day...can't promise I will drop any more $ there on this cruise...maybe when I come back. It's my fave but I try to limit myself to one per cruise unless I have UDP..then it's one per day

[AshleyDillo]

Grand Turk is tomorrow..replacement for Labadee.

I've never been...any suggestions that aren't fry at a beach or Margaritaville?

I'm okay with a low key beach bar with lots of shade as long as there's minimal walking in sand to get there

I've heard Jack's Shack is the place to go but I dunno if I'm gonna be motivated enough to get out early enough to beat the crowd.

[AshleyDillo]

Time for a little PG-13 inappropriateness.

 

[asquared17]

if they replace the triangle hashbrowns with the smaller coins i would find this acceptable. 

but to lose breakfast potatoes altogether is unacceptable!!

sometimes i don’t want them with peppers and onions!!

just crispy fried goodness, evocative of a fast food drive thru….

 

(an ode to hashbrowns, by A)

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

To those wondering about Fish ‘N Ships…when I was on Indy in November we checked it out a few times.  I didn’t try the fish but really liked the chicken fingers.  Fries were so-so.  If I remember correctly they even had a honey mustard dipping sauce for the chicken.

[WAAAYTOOO]

17 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

My concern is if they are removing hashbrowns in general or just replacing the shape .

Today at breakfast, our server made a point of asking us how  much of EVERYTHING we wanted  - how many eggs, how many pieces of toast, sausage links, etc....this included hash browns.  To be completely honest, this is the first time any server has EVER asked us  about quantity.  I was impressed.  Then, when our food came,  Dan received 2 sausage links and 2 hash browns, even though  he had answered "1" of each  when the  question had been asked.  ????      So it seems that, at least on EX,  the hash brown reserve is safe.                

[AshleyDillo]

Fish n Ships as requested.

Everything just tastes beige

It's dead out on the pool deck and everything was sitting there pre-plated already under a warmer..probably would be better if it was busy and things were being freshly made.

When this was a pay venue the shrimp were Chops sized, hand breaded and fried and not these popcorn shrimp they have now.

[AshleyDillo]

This is probably as close to Grand Turk I will get.

It is sunny and the outside does not have A/C

Maybe when I come back in less than 2 weeks...I'm just a creature of habit when I'm solo.  If I ever came back and wasn't alone I would probably rent a golf cart and explore.

[OCSC Mike]

29 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Everything just tastes beige

It's dead out on the pool deck and everything was sitting there pre-plated already under a warmer..probably would be better if it was busy and things were being freshly made.

Appreciate the pics but that sounds pretty bad. I've had far better looking breaded shrimp in the CL and SL on Wonder.

[AshleyDillo]

3 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Appreciate the pics but that sounds pretty bad. I've had far better looking breaded shrimp in the CL and SL on Wonder.

Well fish and chips is always blah tasting..even in the UK. I wasn't expecting much. I may go back and try the fish sandwich and chicken fingers later. 

[OCSC Mike]

2 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Well fish and chips is always blah tasting..even in the UK

I've never had it in the UK but I like fish n chips... there's a reason you need tartar sauce for the fish and malt vinegar for the chips though.

Also, it was more your comments about the food sitting out and how the tiny shrimp nuggets looked than the fish n chips.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Yes!  Try the chicken!  I really think I remember it being pretty decent!  Tell me I’m not crazy! 

[Sweety]

I will try it in June.

[AshleyDillo]

1 hour ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Yes!  Try the chicken!  I really think I remember it being pretty decent!  Tell me I’m not crazy! 

I did try it..it's actual white meat chicken in a panko coating..definitely not hand-breaded. They weren't bad but they're also available in the WJ.

The fish is hand battered..I saw the flour dredge bowl and the batter bowls back in the kitchen.

They need a dessert though... funnel cakes or churros would be easy. 

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

funnel cakes or churros would be easy

Agreed. I still think funnel cakes should be on the Boardwalk on Oasis class... could add them to the Dog House... but adding them to a place already frying stuff is a no-brainer.

WJ had churros on Mexican night on Wonder that were a bit misshapen (random chunks of dough, lol) but tasted good.

[SweetPea]

21 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

They also hide the cookies from genpop. We got a tray of them in our suite but none were ever available at the buffet.

Yes, they do that too! They are always out in the Haven, and I've taken plates to people we meet who complain about this!  

[SweetPea]

5 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Maybe when I come back in less than 2 weeks...I'm just a creature of habit when I'm solo.  If I ever came back and wasn't alone I would probably rent a golf cart and explore.

I was going to say, I've been to T&C just a few times and there really isn't much there. We usually get a perfect Margherita and just listen to the pool party @ Margaritaville or go to the beach. They do have some cute shops there, and i got one of my favorite little purses there about 20 years, but that's about it!

[SweetPea]

4 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I've never had it in the UK but I like fish n chips.

OMG, i wish i could remember the name of the place we went. We hired a private driver for the day to pick us up in Southampton, and we told him we HAD to try fish and chips.  He took us to his favorite and ordered for us. Yum! Huge pieces of fish that were perfectly breaded, yet light.  Though i could easily eat Fish & Chips in Maine too and be just as happy!

[OCSC Mike]

2 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Though i could easily eat Fish & Chips in Maine too and be just as happy!

Years ago when we were further away from becoming or acting like vintages we went to a local Irish pub for trivia almost every week with a group of friends & I think I got fish n chips 95% of the time.

[AshleyDillo]

Yesterday's MDR was Italian night which has my favorite dish on all the menus.

I call it the Indian meatballs dish.

It comes with papadum and roti, too.

Bonus is that they usually have it in the WJ..so I can always get a second helping.  They also have traditional eggplant parmesan in the WJ, which they don't have on the MDR menus.

[AshleyDillo]

I napped a lot this cruise. It was glorious. Last night in the MDR was Caribbean night which is my least favorite menu, so I had the French onion soup and strip steak, my usual standby order.

Then I went and casinoed. 

I finally got up the nerve to play 3-card poker after I had decent success with the slots. I bought in for $200 and played for nearly 4 hours and left with $665

My points total jumped up over 400 points from the last time I was at the slots. This was the first time it automatically showed in my points total without having to ask the casino host to convert my table points for slot freeplay.

Of course I had to play up to an even amount

I did well on my Radiance cruise too..earned about the same number of points..so I'm 80% of the way to prime for the new casino year. I wasn't trying for any instant certs. I checked the 1200pt list on Radiance but didn't look on Independence.  I didn't expect to point churn so much on either sailing.

I didn't keep track...but I only brought a handful of singles onboard and left with almost enough cash to cover my onboard account on both sailings. This includes daily service charges too.

[AshleyDillo]

Woke up to this...

And this...

Then debarkation was a cluster. Only one gangway was open and they had two places for self-assist to congregate at 7:30 the MDR and the theater. My room was more forward so I went down around 7am and they had the doors from the elevator to the theater closed so everyone was piled into the Schooner. They had the casino doors closed as well.  Elevator after elevator of people and luggage were coming down and trying to exit to the closed off lobby. They made an announcement for no one else to go down and finally at 7:30 they opened the casino doors and made us drag our luggage through the casino and Playmakers all the way to the dining room where they sent us out the port side of the ship and back to the forward entrance We were then fed through the theater and out the starboard side of the ship to the aft gangway where we merged in with the MDR folks getting off the ship.

They didn't use facial recognition at this terminal and the passport guy was having a full on conversation with every party.

I was finally off the ship and on the road by 8am. Parking at the garage across from terminal G was $88 for the 4 nights.

[Ampurp85]

Happy early/belated Birthday Ashley, my brother's is the 27th of this month. So he has been getting a ton of emails from Royal.......they are some stalkers . 

That is good about the casino recognizing the points. I can never play poker because I don't have the face for it........ But I was thinking of trying video poker since it's like $.25. You will be back on the road just in time to spend the car ride on hold with casino royale. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Happy birthday, @AshleyDillo !

Also very happy to hear that they have finally figured out how to combine the points. That’s always been a drag to have to cipher that mess.  

[AshleyDillo]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

That is good about the casino recognizing the points. I can never play poker because I don't have the face for it.......

That's why I like 3-card...no bluffing involved. I don't even know how to play anything else really  

But for anyone who knows, I was betting 10-10-5 and managed to come away ahead and last that long..so I had quite a good run!

[Sweety]

Have a joyful Birthday!!!

[FionaMG]

Happy birthday @AshleyDillo!

[OCSC Mike]

Happy B-Day!    

[Sweety]

It's your turn for the big win in the casino.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Happy Birthday @AshleyDillo!

[MaryS]

Happy Birthday @AshleyDillo