OCSC Mike

My wife loves them, I can't stand them.

Try Walgreens Rapid NAAT drive-thru test. Free and no insurance required.

Thanks for sharing this. This is my first time bidding and meant to ask what strategies people had. I bid very early and just slightly over the minimum but we're also not bidding on anything fancy as this is meant to be a cheapo cruise so when I say slightly I mean $5-20 on an already small amount. We're not suite people (unless my in-laws are paying, lol) and we don't use our balcony when we have one. I did make sure there were quite a few cabins available for what we bid on at least and didn't bid on anything with a possible location we don't want.

My wife usually runs about 5 of 7 mornings on a 7-night cruise and the track is often crowded, in the morning at least. It was on the Harmony 5/29 sailing for example. Likely less busy during the day but I'd be concerned about his safety if there are serious runners doing laps in addition to the rudeness issue.

🤞 for both of us then!

It could be either depending on the cruise/port. “The whole process” is mostly just showing your passport. You’re not in the line with new cruisers for that sailing like the 1st leg, you don’t have a covid test result to show b/c you didn’t take one, etc. It’s not a big deal, you might just have to walk off the ship & back on.

We're rolling the dice on both halves of our July B2B plus we have RoyalUp bids in for both halves... ,,,but I'm a gambler. 🤞 Joking aside, we expect to have to move obviously and aren't too concerned about it. I fully understand why many would want to stay in the same cabin though.

I think I still have CD's of that whole list except for Mariah. 🤣

Fair enough on the avoidance part, but it's not like we are never around kids. I notice there are a lot of them when around the rest of the ship and it doesn't have much, if any, impact on my enjoyment.

I've only been on one cruise less than 7-nights ever, and it was when we were sitting on 76 points and wanted to get to Diamond before our next bigger cruise so we found the cheapest 4-nighter out of PC and got an inside cabin, lol. Doing Indy next month but made it a B2B so it could be longer and we love Cococay. All that said, I'd certainly consider the shorter ones on Allure if it means a few more nights at sea while waiting for Wonder next June.

New reason for me to be jealous of only cruising in the summers due to my wife being a teacher (we spend holiday breaks with family and have other reasons why times like Xmas break don't work for us). It used to mostly just be the lower fares. That said, my wife has a new position at her school that makes missing a few days here and there less of an issue and she does have a ton of paid vacation days saved up. Hrmm....

I'm not suggesting anything about their behavior whatsoever. I'm saying the increased amount of them being present on the ship does not affect where we personally spend a lot of our time. We don't go to the Solarium to avoid kids, we go there b/c it's quiet and I don't care to spend time in the sun and the Solarium has lots of shady spots where I can chill while my wife gets some sun nearby. We go to the DL for the snacks and previously for the open bar. We don't go on the water slides b/c I have no interest in water slides. You've got the causation wrong. We're not avoiding kids, our interests onboard just do not happen to closely match up with the interests of children. FWIW, when spending time in more common areas like the promenade, hallways, WJ, etc., I can't remember once thinking "damn, this cruise is awful b/c there are so many poorly behaved children." Naturally there are isolated incidents, but those are no worse than when a woman was so drunk in the DL one night she was basically asked to leave. If others are bothered by a large amount of children on board, so be it. I'm not interested in judging anyone and I'm glad those people are able to sail at other times of the year if that makes their cruises more enjoyable.

Agreed. Can also make backup appointments if you have a CVS nearby offering rapid antigen tests in minute clinic.

Blasphemy!

That's awfully expensive. Are there no Walgreens near you offering Rapid NAAT tests? They are free via the drive-thru and Walgreens doesn't even ask for insurance. Results e-mailed in under 2 hours.

🎵 All I want for Christmas......... is my Harmony block! 🎵

He may be in the pool but the pizza is not & he is leaning over the box. I say that’s perfectly acceptable! 👍

I can’t speak for John, & I never have the UDP, but I enjoy eating & try to indulge as much as possible when I cruise. I know you were mostly joking, but I truly go on a strict a diet for about a month before a 7-night cruise & try to lose 10 lbs. or so b/c I know I have gained that much in a week before. 🤷‍♂️ (I am not a big guy btw, I can just eat a lot and enjoy trying all different stuff on the ships). The worst/best part is having another 7-nights booked in mid-July. I went back to my diet after disembarking and have lost most of the cruise weight already so I won’t have to be super strict for the next month at least.

I’ve already mentioned we cruise exclusively when kids are out of school since my wife is a teacher & they really don’t bother us. That said, on my recent Harmony cruise, a group of 4 kids thought the most entertaining activity on board was not the water slides, the pools, AO, or the sports court but rather racing each other up and down the stairs at full speed. I just kept thinking how it eventually would not end well for one of them, a passerby, or both.

Look for independent excursions. Check out the port of call forums here and TripAdvisor for recommendations & reviews.

Lol, no, not in it, promise.

It will have whatever I bring with me from elsewhere when I’m there. 😁

True! Well played. 🤣

If you do visit the WJ, please report back. Wife and I will be having several dinners there on our B2B next month.

Let me know if you still have an extra Harmony. I almost snagged one in November but had to leave the cruise early for a death in the family. Never got my block and it wasn't something I was in the mood to pursue at the time. John, by all means feel free to let twangster have the Harmony block you mentioned to me. In theory, I'm getting mine from RC in 3-4 months.