Bette And Bill

3 minutes ago, ihopfar said:

Thanks!  So, are the times in the itinerary the port times or the ship times for the ports where it is different?

They are ship times. If it is part of Royal and not the port - all times are ship time. Everyone tells you to stay on ship time and to turn off auto updating on your electronic devices. Although for these ports the islands are an hour ahead of ship time.

1 hour ago, ihopfar said:

Thanks for the review Stealthdog!    Just to confirm, you stayed on ship time the whole time?  Which means ship time was different than the port time in Aruba and Curacao, right?

 

Brad

 

 

That is correct. The ship stayed on Eastern time the entire cruise.

14 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

This may be an unpopular opinion based on comments I've heard on ship about The Book and Showgirl, but Showgirl is hands down the best show on the ship.  Everything about it was outstanding.  In terms of Cruise Ship productions, IMHO it was better than Hairspray on the Symphony but not at the level of the Lion King on the Disney Dream.  It is traditional production style with 5 singers and a little more than a dozen dancers.  3 of the singers were phenomenal, one of the female vocalists is probably the best cruise ship production vocalist I have heard.  The costumes and dancers were all fun and good at what they do, with a little bit if aerial dancing at the end.  The only critique (and its not about the performance) I have is there were about 15-20 staff members sitting in the audience, and they were hooting and yelling almost every scene, which was a little annoying.  I get they were supporting their friends, so it really didn't interfere with my enjoyment, but I could see how people may be bothered, especially if they were sitting right next to them.

 

Overall, Royal should be very proud of themselves with Showgirl and I would recommend everyone go see it.  Get there early to get your seats.

I think those "hooting and yelling" were the members of the installing group. Since this was the first week for this cast, the "team" were still on board. They will probably be getting off today.

15 hours ago, davekathy said:

When you say, "not been there for quite a while now", when? We were in Curacao March of this year and the market was full with vendors and very busy (locals).  

The floating market has not been there for several years now. The open market is there but not the floating one. 

3 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

 

We walked past the area where the floating market usually is and there were no boats there.  I dont know if it just was a day or timing thing, or they no longer do it, but that area is usually one of our favorites in Curacao.

JC, the floating market has not been there for quite a while now. We used to walk down and look at all the things for sale and then go to the market area. We did not even bother walking down that way this time. 

22 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Is breakfast in Two70 like O class Solarium, Wipeout, and Park Cafe or more like Cafe Promenade?

More like Park Cafe. They have the standard continental breakfast things. Plus, burritos and breakfast sandwiches which they put in a microwave and then press. Normally pretty hot when you get it. Also on the Odyssey, it is where you would get your roast beef sandwich for lunch. They also have Cubans and a 3-cheese sandwich, all of which are heated after you order.

9 minutes ago, Stealthdog said:

I need a little help with this one - I found this yellow duck on the top of a painting frame hidden behind by an emergency exit sign.  I've seen reference to these, but never really read those threads.  What do I do with this?  I don't use facebook, so won't post it on the "cruising duck" page.  Do I just re-hide it somewhere else?

You can either keep it or send it back out in the wild. If you want a picture and we run into each other, I will take you picture with the duck and post on both the cruise thread and the cruising duck thread.

1 hour ago, Stealthdog said:

 

I should have asked the Roll Call for someone to bring one.  I checked 4-5 different dollar stores and couldn't find one. 😞 

I actually have one, but it is at home packed away with all the Christmas stuff.

5 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

Want to show off our door decorations for this cruise. 2nd leg will be different. Hope guests and staff that walk by get enjoyment from it.

Love your door. Especially the gnome. Now you just need a Grinch. 

Enjoying your review, JC. It was a pleasure to meet you yesterday at the lime and Coconut. Looking forward to the rest of your review. Currently sitting in Two70, where the crew is setting up for the band for the Top Tier Party. Nice and quiet right now. 

We finally received our Odyssey block - only took 11 1/2 months. 

14 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Is anyone still waiting for Odyssey block? Our friends on the same cruise as us received theirs.  Should I call C and A?

We have not received ours from Nov 21 yet either. I was going to wait a day or so, to allow for catchup after Ian stopped everything.

2 hours ago, flamingos said:

Thanks, we thought he was saying Thor. He’s only temporary, then?

Capt. Thor and Capt. Carl share the Voyager. They replace each other when one goes on vacation.

On Voyager, Capt Carl went on vacation Sept 4th and our captain is now Thordur Thorsson.

On the Mariner now and the captain is Panagopoulos Panos. 

On 6/23/2022 at 4:47 PM, wolfcathorse said:

 Mariner OTS - Capt Tor Isak Olsen (started rotation 6-4-22)

Mariner OTS - Capt Tobias Oster

 

 

Capt. Tobias was on the Mariner until June 25. He mentioned at the Captains Corner, that he was going on vacation the next day (June 25th)

2 hours ago, BND said:

Anyone who had to fill out a form to have their block sent to their home, how long did it take to get it? We were on EN Apr 2 and14 for b2b.  We could have ordered one for each leg but only ordered for the first leg.  We still haven't received it so I'm curious how long it's been taking.   All of our previous blocks have been delivered to our cabin so this is the first one we've had to wait for.  

Still waiting on Odyssey block from Nov 2021

On 4/22/2022 at 8:25 AM, Bette And Bill said:

I sked the Concierge last night if Capt. Johnny is still scheduled to be on board next week and she said he was. We are also still on board and will let you know if it changes.

Johnny is still on board this week. Not sure when he is scheduled for vacation.

On 4/20/2022 at 11:01 AM, wolfcathorse said:

can you find out if he'll be on next week?

I sked the Concierge last night if Capt. Johnny is still scheduled to be on board next week and she said he was. We are also still on board and will let you know if it changes.

13 hours ago, wolfcathorse said:

probably not, April 24 would be the rotation date if they were doing a 10 week rotation. Johnny likes 11/12 week rotations

Currently on Harmony and Capt. Johnny is on board this week.

4 hours ago, SherriZ366 said:

Claudine was with Willie in the Allure DL last October and I just dealt with her.  I had a lot of requests because my husband fell and messed up his shoulder.  I only tipped Claudine but did it discretely.  Claudine is in the SL as far as I know unless she went on vacation.  Second Concierge is a super nice guy named Junior.  

That is good to know. 

7 hours ago, lovelife said:

On Wonder now. Advised Willie our cards didn't work for suite lounge or diamond lounge. He was annoyed that we bothered him, wouldn't look me in the eye, and asked if I knew the Duiamond concierge could have helped me. I was dismissed like an old pair of socks. Gave him a second  chance the next day to answer a question. He was too busy for me and wouldn't even lift his head.

He was on Allure in December (in the diamond lounge), he was the same way then as well. It was my middle daughter's very first cruise as a newly minted Diamond and she refused to go back. He did not even speak to us until the last night, when Christino was working in the lounge and Christino welcomed me with a big hello and welcome back.

On 12/26/2021 at 3:50 PM, vacationlover_mn said:

Did you see if there was a separate boarding line for suites?

When we boarded the Odyssey as well as the Allure, there was a suite, Pinnacle and Key Line. It just sad suites on the sign above your head. There were no ropes just people standing in line. As you look towards the terminal building (where you are entering) it is on your right. 

I checked in for my Feb 5th cruise on the 22nd but could not pick an arrival time until yesterday. I did it through the app on my phone. Then I printed my boarding passes later in the day.

1 hour ago, IamJPT said:

Anyone know who the genies are on Allure? We will be Star Class for our cruise this February and we’re wondering who they are and maybe some feedback on them.

I know that Dexter is one. He was the Suite Concierge on the Allure and has recently been promoted to a Genie. He told me earlier in Dec he will be on until sometime in Feb.