mo&fran

I posted yesterday that we could use a good 4-5 inches of rain. We didn't get that at all. but reports are FLL area got up to 14 inches, and the airport (FLL) is closed due to flooding. Our forecast for today is 100% chance of rain, although weather radar shows little rain. Good thing there are no cruise ships departing today, although there is a Viking ship in port.

Isn't the one whose dome was meant to retract, but it never worked.

No sun here today, temp in the low 70's, wind and rain. We need the rain, real bad. A nice 4-5 inches would do the trick. We'll see what we get. Predicted to be back to 90's by the weekend.

I just looked at Goggle earth and the satellite photo shows Wonder of the Seas docked in Naples.

When my job relocated to Florida in 1976, I drove down I95. Problem was, it wasn't completed in Georgia, so there was a long section on US1,which I95 was to replace. I swore I would never drive back and forth up and down the east coast again. I did do it again, like 1984, and at that time, the only section that wasn't finished was between Palm Beach Gardens and Ft Pierce , but the Florida Turnpike was close by, so it wasn't that bad. My opinion is that the worst section was in Connecticut, although NYC was no picnic, so I always tried to get up to the Tappan Zee if I had to go by the city.

It was a limited buffet in the solarium bistro. Nothing special, but not crowded like Windjammer.

Look up Chris Wong on Youtube. He is a Casino host on Symphony and has many videos about the ship.

Our last cruise prior to shutdown was the first week of February 2020 on Serenade. If there were fixed time in our room, I wasn't aware of it. Nothing seemed different from previous cruises.

Prior to shutdown, MTD had a dedicated dining room. We laways used MTD with no issue. When the restart happened, they didn't have enough wait staff , and ships with 3 floors of dining rooms, only had 2 open. So MTD started later, and early seating used the MTD room. And that caused an issue with the tables being open it time for the first MTD. Now, they have had all 3 dining rooms open, but are still seating early in the MTD room. So now, early MTD times get jammed up waiting for tables to become open. Also, you have the people who have early TD, who show up late. In the old days, you don't show up at your scheduled time, you did not get seated. Not anymore. Our last cruise, we ended up in traditional early dining, and I found they were staggering the early seating, like some at 500, some 515, and finally 530. WE were B2B, so we went to the MTD dining room, and had no issue getting our preferred 630 MTD seating. For the second cruise. This was on Grandeur , which has 2 dining rooms. Never any lines.

If balance is an issue for you, you may need a larger device than I use. A good medical supply store may be of more assistance than my comments. I just know what works in my situation.

I will debate what the proper height is. I have been told I need to have my arms straight out, my reply is that it works the way I have it, it cannot be wrong. The handles are at the highest position, by arms are almost vertical, and it relieves the load on my lower back, which is what I need. I totally ignore people who try to tell me I am doing it wrong.

This is what my rollator looks like

I use a Rollator to get around. Old back injury results in back pain when I walk very far. It has a seat so I can sit if I need it. I check it when I fly, and get wheelchair assistance at the airport. ADA forbids airlines from charging extra for mobility devices. I don't want to use a powered wheelchair device since it is still important for me to keep walking.

WE turned pinnacle in N0vember and still haven't received our PIN pins. WE asked the LA on our cruise last week , and he had no answer.

We just got back from 2 weeks on Grandeur . Kind of a kinky little ship, but we had fun. One problem with this older ship is the lack of rest rooms for those with mobility devices, Menus are standard RCI, no surprise there. WE went because it was a casino comp, the price was right. WE had an ocean view, but it was at the front of the ship, so we got to hear the bow thruster when we got into port. If we were late sleepers that would be a problem, but we aren't, so no problem. Was able to have breakfast in Chops, which was nice. One of our ports was Labadee, we had a cabana. Strange sight was the presence of armed police officers. First time I have seen that, and we have been there many times. This means we have now sailed on every class of RCI ships. I didn't think I would like this class, but went with an open mind , and wouldn't mind doing it again, but only if I can have at least have an ocean view. Anyone with seasickness issues might have a problem, it certainly moves around more than the larger ships, as to be expected.

Usually have a table in front of Publix.

For those wanting the current weather on Coco Cay https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/IBERRY34

No. I do get messages periodically letting me know they are looking.

A keycard is supplied. No need for your own.

One interesting thing I ran into with this cruise. When we were living in Ct, we did winter cruises out of NJ, and often stopped at Labadee. We were often able to rent a cabana on Barefoot Beach. After the restart, the cabanas price took off, and they were made available for anyone to book. They were priced out our range, so I rarely looked at the price. This upcoming cruise is a 9 day and a 5 day. I just happened to look at the prices for the beach cabana for the 6 day cruise, and it was $299. I looked at the 9 day, $699. Guess which one I booked.

Friday we board Grandeur of the seas for another B2B casino comp cruise. Quite a difference from the Harmony, but I looked at the ship that we sailed back in 2003, Celebrity Horizon, and they are very similar in size WE will have an ocean view, so we will see how that works out. WE have no more cruises booked, so I expect to spend some time at the next cruise desk. WE turned Pinnacle back in November, but still haven't received tha magical name tags or anything else, other than the gold sea pass cards. I understand there is a free cruise coming somewhere.

Almost all sedans from US have been discontinued, except Mustang and similar cars.

DW has a 2012 Fusion with less than 20k on it. Beautiful car, and she doesn't like my Mustang because it has options that make the suspension very stiff, which is nice for sporty driving, not so much for comfort. But the Fusion is loaded with options and is the ride she likes. It's her around town car, but we use to to go to the Kids house on the west coast of Florida. We are on the east coast. And we often tote the grandkids around , it is much more suited for that. Of course, not much room for luggage in the Mustang.

I enjoy watching his show on Motor Trend channel.