MalteseMama2

On 2/11/2020 at 4:08 PM, mom2tcdx2 said:

 

 

I am very sorry to hear about your mom.  Though honestly I am not even sure some insurance companies cover the reason being related to someone else, unless it is the cancel for any reason type policies.  

 

2 years ago we were faced with a similar situation. My father was in his last days and we had a cruise coming up. I called our TA to see if our insurance would cover cancellation and she said yes, it would but wait until a couple days before canceling. Daddy passed a week before the cruise so we were able to go. While it wasn’t the happiest trip, it was very restful and healing. 
My prayers are with the OP. Losing a parent is extremely difficult. 

23 hours ago, brillohead said:

About the only thing I find relevant in Anello's "step" grandfather status, in my own personal opinion, is whether he actually raised children himself.  I haven't seen one way or the other if he ever had his own kids, or if he was in the home while they were growing up.  

 

People who have spent significant periods of time around small children tend to look at their care and safety differently from those who aren't familiar with small children.  

I agree completely! I’m a stepmom, step grandma and a retired elementary school teacher. I am very aware of how easily children can get hurt in ANY situation. I’ve even (discreetly) kept an eye on children in public when I’m not sure the adult in charge is watching carefully. I once watched a baby in a stroller that was obviously left alone in the Solarium at least 1/2 hr. I couldn’t relax until the parents returned. They had obviously been in the pool. The stroller was in an area where they would not have been able to see it from the pool. 

DH & i just received texts from RCI about our upcoming Caribbean cruise. It states what has already been on here: if anyone has traveled from, through or to China less than 15 days before embarkation, they will not be allowed to board. This includes crew. 

I am not fearful, but I like to be proactive. We are flying from S.C.  to San Juan in March to sail on Freedom. I realize that neither place has reported the virus, but the “regular” Flu is so bad here that some school systems have closed. I always travel with sanitizing wipes for the arm rests and tray on the plane. We wash our hands constantly while traveling, soap & water as well as hand sanitizer. I think I will buy that virus killing purell mentioned on these boards. 

Been off CC for awhile so just found this thread. It sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for the pictures. We are looking forward to getting back  on Oasis but that’s not until March 2021. 
enjoy Mariner and when you return give a Bella a pat for me. 

The news report I saw said it ALMOST hit Oasis, but the video you posted looks like it may have hit her. I hope not! 

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Wow...great advice!  Thanks!   We wanted to pull last 50.00 in OBC out, went to table and asked for chips.  But then of course with each of us holding a 25.00 chip...we just "had" to play.  And we both lost.  😮  Oh well, at least it wasn't our own money.  😉 

We had almost $100 left and John wanted to get the cash to use for extra tips for Elaine and Jeremiahs in the SL. It’s a good thing he went without me because I was already wondering how my luck would be on a slot machine! 🤣

20 hours ago, jagsfan said:

Mama2, can you tell me in what night was the filet mignon in Coastal Kitchen?

That might be the best night for my DH. 

I had to ask my DH because I can’t remember. He said he thinks it was the first night. He is sure it was early in the week.  
He loved the tomato soup that was offered at lunch. I couldn’t try it because it wasn’t gluten free, but he had it many times. 

I didn’t know that. 

On 12/15/2019 at 4:52 PM, Ren1216 said:

I've also been reading that you can visit Guest Services on your last day and they'll give you cash for any remaining OBC you haven't used.

On 12/15/2019 at 5:47 PM, suesnake2002 said:

 

This is what i do. It's awsome to walk off with extra cash. 

I didn’t know that. Thanks for the info. 

I think I’ve coveted everything I meant to. This review was a spur of the moment thing. I ran into a couple problems I didn’t anticipate.  For instance, I took pictures with my iPhone because it has a much better camera. But typing information on it was a pain. However, we were relying on the free internet offered to Suite guests, so to transfer pictures from the phone to my iPad I had to use John’s internet password on one device. 
 

I’ve saved the best tip (IMHO) for last. Our friend from Fredericksburg told us how to “cash out” our remaining onboard credit. He took John to the casino and basically what they did was this:

Make sure you know how much credit you still have.  
Go to any slot machine.

Tap your card on the slot machine 

Press ACCOUNT then PERSONAL BANKER

Enter 4 digit PIN CODE, month/day of your birthday 

Press TRANSFER TO GAME, then ROOM CHARGE 

Select amount UP TO $500 and press ENTER (This is where you must know how much credit you have left)

Then cash out. 

Happy Sailing!

44 minutes ago, Ren1216 said:

I'm also going to order my Lava Flows this way in January... can't wait!

I think you will really enjoy it!

Thanks to everyone who expressed sympathy about our Ruza. 
 

Thanks to @Sea Dog I made sure to have a Lava Flow with Kraken Rum! Loved it! I especially loved having it delivered to me in the SL. The first picture is of my VDH (very dear husband) at the pool bar getting the drink, taken from the SL. 

When we first got on board John insisted we go to Next Cruise to sign up for an appointment. We got one of the 9AM slots for the next day. This proved to be a wise move. Due to my research we already knew which cruises we were interested in. Because it was cyber Monday we got fantastic deals. We booked our 1st B2B!! It will be in Nov 2021 on Oasis. After Oasis repositions from one of the northern ports (Elizabeth?) she has a 4 day cruise just to Labadee and back. We booked that plus the next week. Perfect for us because John can’t really afford the time of a 2 week B2B and I’m anxious to experience a B2B. We booked a GS for this. 
We also booked a CLS on Oasis for March 2022. We now have 6 upcoming cruises booked. A big deal for us!

We asked that other future cruises be checked on and found out one had dropped in price. We emailed our travel agent and she was able to get this new price for us. Usually we find that prices have gone up since we booked but it never hurts to ask. 

We lost our precious Ruza yesterday morning. 

On 12/12/2019 at 6:04 AM, Cruise a holic said:

Didn't know that the AQ suite has two doors.  Is this a one or two bedroom AQ suite?

 

Txs

One bedroom

If the video works you will see the 2 door entrance to our AT Suite. We didn’t like it. The first morning I almost locked myself out of the suite when I went to let room service in. Luckily I realized that I needed to hang on to the 2nd door while opening the 1st and caught it just before it latched! 

3 hours ago, zencruisers said:

Sending positive vibes for you and your dogs.

Thank you. 

15 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Currently on Harmony.  Yes, aft elevators (when you need them) are a nightmare.  Forward elevators, no problem.  Easier to just walk decks forward then walk back.  We take the stairs when we can, or walk back from forward.  Early in the morning, or during dinner time...no problem.  

 

Sad though when so many able bodied young people are on the elevators to go a few floors, and pax with walkers or wheelchairs that have no choice...have to wait multiple times to be able to get on one.  

14 hours ago, Coralc said:

 

Well, fortunately they don't make you wear your handicapped placard around your neck.  I had two kids say rather loudly on the elevator, "She took the elevator for 1 floor!" 

We’ve almost always used the stairs on past cruises. This time I could walk down but going up was just too painful. I am glad that my situation is temporary because my clothes were a bit tight at the end of this sailing. 😉

Our cruise, including travel to & from VA, was wonderful. Unfortunately, when we picked our dogs up it was obvious that Ruza was in very bad health. Yesterday we took her to the vet thinking we needed to let her go. Thankfully the vet suggested 1 more treatment so she’s there getting meds and fluids through an IV. If this works she will have good quality of life a little longer. If not, we will say goodbye to one of the best dogs I’ve ever had. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. 
 

That said, I want to give my thoughts on Coco Cay. We didn’t purchase any of the excursions or extras offered. Since it was our first time here with the improvements we just wanted to explore. The water park slides looked awesome. We will consider the balloon ride in the future and I am interested in swimming with the pigs. We thought the zip line was pricey considering the length and views. 
I wanted to find a lounge chair on the beach and we eventually settled on Chill Island, past the Chill Grill, near the Wacky Seagull Jr Bar. At first, I wasn’t completely happy - so many chairs crowded together and we couldn’t get a chair on the first row of the beach. But we were on the 2nd row and as I watched the waves, the children playing and listened to an audiobook, I was very relaxed. 
We stayed until lunch time. I had brought a couple bananas to snack on and wasn’t hungry but John had been looking forward to trying the lunch. So off he went while I continued to enjoy the beach. He had a Cuban and fries. He said they were delicious. 
 

Our only problem with Coco Cay was that we were there the last day of the cruise. We like to be 95% packed before heading to the SL or dinner on the last day and that’s easier to do on a sea day. Not a big deal, just our preference. 
 

We are now safely home and wondering if we are happy or sad that VT is facing Kentucky in the Belk Bowl. 🤔

For disembarkation we met in the Suite Lounge. We left there at 8:19 and by 8:50 we were completely out of the port and on the road to the airport! 
I’ve got so much more to share but right now I have to put away clothes and go pick up our girls from the vet. 

On 12/8/2019 at 8:16 AM, Milwaukee Eight said:

Following 

Thanks! I have a lot of catching up to do. 

On 12/8/2019 at 8:08 AM, island lady said:

Welcome back everyone!  I see your ship sitting pretty in the sunrise on the web cam.  I am coming over to take your place in a couple of hours.  Hope everyone had a wonderful cruise, and thanks for taking us along!  🙂 

Have a great time!

On 12/7/2019 at 8:55 PM, red-dragon said:

That's a great idea.  Did they tell you where to go to get their favorites thoughs, like a map/directions?

We just asked what they liked while talking to them about themselves. They were very surprised to get the goodies! The couple who gave us the idea knew where there were grocery stores where we stopped. 
in March we are going to islands we’ve never visited. Since most of the staff liked unsalted peanuts we are going to bring some with us. A lot also commented on our powdered flavored creamer so we are going to bring some of that as well.

We got a great tip from another couple, Ed and Debbie from Fredericksburg, Va. They ask their suite attendant and SL servers what snacks they like. Then they buy those snacks when I port. We did this and it was so nice to see faces light up when we handed them a bag of peanuts or some snickers bars. I always want to do something extra for the people who make my vacation special. We tip well because we know that’s most important. But this is more personal and yet not bits of clutter that the staff probably doesn’t have room for or even want. 

When we are in St. Maarten we love to buy gifts at The Belgium Chocolate Shop. Sadly, the little shop right at the port and the one downtown have closed. I saw a sign for the shop over a little shop that had spices, teas and such. The shopkeeper has a small section of the Belgium chocolates in a refrigerated case. She told us the original chocolatier sold her shop and is now living in Germany. The new owners make the chocolates on the French side of the island. She is selling them at the port to see how well they sell for her. We nearly bought her out. I Hope it is a successful venture for her.  Of course once we buy our chocolates we race back to the ship so they don’t melt!