reney313

On 9/7/2023 at 8:48 PM, Sea Dog said:

 Actually went with a Worthy Park 109 Mai Tai at 54.5% ABV. Helps taking the nerves off.

 

It was a brutal game. I was there and had to re-watch parts of it on NFL+ today to get some commentary on what I saw! Hopefully Kelce is back next week and our WR's can catch a ball. 

Thank you for this review.  It brought a smile to my face and realization that I haven't looked at our Norway cruise pictures for quite some time (we went in 2015).  We didn't go above the arctic circle - one of these days I'll make it back for that experience!  But we did enjoy a few of the same ports (Alesund and Geiranger). 

We went to the Norwegian Fjords in 2015 and are going to Greece this year. I expect them to be 2 completely different experiences. For me, Norway was top of list in Europe. As others have mentioned, I would expect more regulations for cruise ships in the fjords in the future so going now would be recommended. I am a little bummed I missed out on sailing out of Venice proper for our Greece cruise and instead have to sail out of a port a few hours south (although I am spending 4 days in Venice prior). But those things happen so if you really want to see Norway via a ship, I'd go sooner than later.  It is truly stunning.  Greece will always be there for future.

We sail in 17 days from Ravenna on Brilliance and luggage tags still show pending. I'm glad to know it wasn't just me!  I'll email them - no big as I'm sure the porters can make tags, but if it's that way for many on my sailing, I'm not sure I'll be thrilled to stand in line waiting for them to add tags on the bags!

19 minutes ago, cruisegal40 said:

I wish they would allow you to add your own private stuff in there like private excursions.

I agree.  Even certain things you want to do on the ship - such as "book dining reservations" or general reminders to yourself on things you want to do. 

I was so thrilled to see a review for this itinerary.  We are going in September and I've been trying to get information on a few different things.  You definitely helped!  (One of them was whether the speed boat in Kotor was worth the time - and I think I'd have the same impression as you).  Great pictures and details. And I'm thrilled with seeing the cruise compass for the same itinerary.  I am happy you made it home, albeit it with a 2 day delay.  I am curious if insurance will cover any of the expenses.  I used insure my trip as well and chose the nationwide plan.

I also agree - we primarily cruise Royal Caribbean and Princess, but I have cruised plenty on NCL and once on Carnival.  I think they are all similar - they each have strengths and weaknesses.  And for European itineraries, I'm really cruising for the ports and not so much the ship.  I think you would really like the Oasis class ships, but I would only take those in the Caribbean. You don't have enough days at sea to really enjoy the ship and appreciate the offerings otherwise.  

Hopefully the finger heals quickly.  I am amazed how you were a trooper after that - I would have been whining a lot.  lol.  

Wow! I can't imagine why NCL would be unable to serve liquor while in port and other lines are able to do so?  At least I hope they are.  I would be very unhappy with purchasing a drink package and not able to use it until after sail away.

We purchased for our Greek Isles cruise in September during the black friday sale.  It was negligible for me with the value.  

Priority boarding is not much of a concern - we're Diamond and on European cruises often board when we walk into the terminal anyway.  

We do get the Internet package so that was of value.

We won't use the rock climbing wall and the ship doesn't have a flow rider anyway.  We will likely enjoy the Chops lunch.  

We only have our backpacks for carry on's and would prefer not to have those "unattended" by us so we'll carry them until we can get in our rooms.  

My husband doesn't like shows, I usually got a few but sit in the very back for an easy exit, if so desired.  

But - this cruise does have a lot of tender ports and we will likely be booking independent excursions.  I do plan to get value from that perk - if only just the peace of mind.  

If it weren't on sale for only a little bit over the cost of the Internet, I would have skipped it.  But with the incredible sale, it made it palatable. 

On 1/4/2022 at 9:26 AM, fred30 said:

I probably heard of more people that used at-home test to verify they had Covid then getting an official test.

Some families only 1 out the the family gets official test and the rest just assume what they have is Covid because it fits in with the timing.

That is a large percentage of people that are not in the test results.

But are they as the CDC may be showing estimated results.  They have done that many times before.

 

I think numbers have always been underreported as many people I know would not get tested unless they had to go to the hospital or were otherwise required.

As at home tests are more and more available-as well as variants such as omicron that likely go untested at all, I suspect CDC will go from reporting "actual" numbers to using a calculation, similar to how they have reported on flu numbers over the years.

I redeemed points in July or August for our January and September 2022 cruises, they are not showing on either of them currently.  I want to book a few things using the OBC, but I don't want to wait on hold for a few hours to get them to put them on for use.  

Thank you for sharing to use another browser.  I've been trying to view flights for a Sept. 2022 Europe cruise for weeks now.  I can see they are available on the airline sites, but have not been able to get the A2S site to work on Safari.  It worked in Chrome.

That said, I didn't see any flexibility for doing one way flights - only roundtrip in/out of Venice.  Since we're cruising from Ravenna - a few hours south - we have to take a train to get to the airport and plan to cruise out of a different location.  The R/T flight prices are nearly identical to the airline sites, it used to be a lot cheaper using the consolidator.  I think I'll just book direct, which also provides flexibility using miles as well.

11 minutes ago, royalnewbie said:

We stumbled upon them a few days ago and love their adventure so far.  We feel they are common folk like us.

I agree. There is something refreshing about their reviews.  It's a little comical because they don't seem to drink much normally and they are having a blast trying out all the drinks with the package. 

While I follow cruise boards and vlogs, my husband follows a couple that primarily vlog everything Disney and Star Wars.  One of his favorite vloggers are currently on Symphony of the Seas.  I thought I'd share the link to their first log - where they were upgraded to a suite!  They are on day 3 now and they are all fantastic and very thorough.  This is only their 2nd cruise - the first being on a Disney ship.  I love seeing it through their eyes as almost new to cruising and definitely new to Royal Caribbean.  They are trying everything and eating everything!  You can find their other 2 installments (so far) on their channel as well.  The 3rd one is my favorite so far.

I'd love an 80's hairband night.  Some Skid Row, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Poison, GnR, and Motley Crue.  I'd definitely pack a can of Aqua Net to participate in the night!  

I do like to alternate cruise lines frequently for this reason...some of the entertainment gets stale. But after a year or two away, I enjoy it all anew.  I'll be there with bells and whistles for my first 70's Disco night after this cruise drought!  (I do wish they would add in some other GREAT 70's music that is not Disco though!).

2 hours ago, Ashland said:

I miss those (very) old NCC's we could buy onboard that had no expiration date. We would buy the max of 3 pp. So sad years ago when I used the last one.

Me too!  I wish I had bought more on our last cruise before it changed.  I just used my last one for a cruise in Sept 2022.  I've been holding on to it for awhile.

2 hours ago, Kathscof said:

 Or not even worry about a direct train ride (changing trains isn’t hard) and fly out of a city that has an airport with good flight times….or…..you could go wherever you wanted! I mean, you could even go all the way to Rome (trains from the port could probably take you there and get you there around “checkin” time at any hotel) because they have a lot of flight options too….

Yes, I guess I didn't word that well.  We've spent considerable time in Rome previously as well as other cities.  I was just trying to intimate they did not need to go back to Venice as it is a little more difficult to get to the airport there than other cities in Italy.  And it takes more time due to the changing of trains.  

I think we're saying the same thing, just differently 🙂 

The largest challenge with Ravenna is that there is not a direct train to get to Venice (or vice versa). For us, it seems to make more sense on departure to find a city to fly out of that is a direct train ride away (and extend the vacation 1-2 days).  Logistically, that just seems easier.  

3 minutes ago, MorganClark said:

 

I have never been to NCL's Stirrup Cay but I can already tell you, RCI's Pefect Day at Coco Cay blows it away. Half the time,, NCL has to cancel the stop at Stirrup Cay because of sea/weather conditions. Unlike RCI, NCL doesn't have a dock on Stirrup Cay and has to tender passengers ashore.

I have been to both several times. They are just "different" to me.  Oddly, I always thought GSC was greater than Coco Cay (Little Stirrup Cay).  But then Royal Caribbean has really stepped up it's game.  Just adding a dock is a HUGE improvement, let alone everything else.  That said, I still miss/yearn for the older days of the rugged beach paradise.  I enjoyed Coco Cay back in the day.  I also like it now, just different.  So it's nice to have Great Stirrup Cay as an alternative once in awhile.

I finally got caught up.  Thank you to all the  contributors!  I just booked Adventure out of Galveston for January and I CAN'T WAIT!  6 months will be a long wait, but it seems short compared to how long it's been for a cruise!

Question for those of you who sailed Adventure recently...it sounds like for internet, it's best to just purchase the regular zoom and not the streaming?  We will be in the Panoramic Room on the top and very front.  I'm assuming the streaming will be just a waste of money?

And Morgan-regarding Global Entry, with all of your cruises upcoming, I'd definitely apply for it once you get home.  We applied Pre-Covid in June 2019, hoping to use for a trip in December 2019.  We did not even get our conditional approval in order to schedule an appointment until July 2020.  And then couldn't get an appointment until February 2021.  That said, once we had the formal interview, we had our GE number and cards in hand within a week.  Granted, we didn't have anywhere to use it in 2020 or so far in 2021, so maybe it's good the 5 year clock didn't start until earlier this year.  

Now, I'm crossing my fingers I can get my passport renewed by our cruise late January.  It just expired last week.  Yikes!

18 minutes ago, vacay1984 said:

Yes, thanks!  I had no idea the port was so far away from Venice. Definitely changes things…..

 

is there a better airport to fly into than Venice?

We are also cruising r/t out of Venice (Ravenna) in September 2022.  I haven't finalized plans yet, depending on air options.  We are thinking of flying home out of Bologna, Milan or possibly Florence rather than Venice.  The train is direct to both and air options seem like they may be similar.  It will also provide an opportunity to visit another city for 1-2 days post cruise.  We have been to Florence prior, but on a port visit, so we wouldn't mind the opportunity to be there in the afternoon and evening once cruise ship passengers vacate the city.   At this point, I'm still planning to spend 2-3 days in Venice pre-cruise and fly directly into Venice.  

I'll be sad they are not there on our next cruise.  We met them several years ago on our first visit.  It's been quite awhile since we've been back.

I am happy for them though. Once of the positives out of Covid was giving some business owners a pause to really reflect and decide what they want out of life going forward.  I've had a few friends who were auto pilot for so many years, grinding day in and day out, and the original shut down + the slower pace after reopening allowed them time to decide they were ready to retire and allow a new generation to take the reins.  Best wishes to Steve and his family on the next chapter for them, and for Carolina and others as they take over.  

If I recall correctly, for our NB cruises, we cleared US customs in Vancouver, before boarding the ship.  We had the passport book and card, and it seemed like our card would not work.  I would call and confirm. According to the card itself, if arriving by sea or land, it should work, but I'm not sure the cruise policy will allow.  

We plan to send our renewal in next week.  I filled out the paper work and printed it, but we've been lazy on getting the pictures done.  Ours expired last week. Since I just booked a cruise for mid January, hopefully that will give enough time.  Fortunately, it's closed loop out of Galveston so we can fish out our birth certificates from the safe deposit box, worst case scenario.  That won't work for Europe in September 2022, certainly it won't take that long!  (knocked on wood after that jinx!)

I'm excited.  I have booked!  Now if it would only show up in my cruise planner.  lol.  I didn't splurge for the suite, but it was tempting.  The offer was a comp inside cabin, but I upgraded to the new(er) panoramic oceanview rooms.  I think that is the only room type I haven't sailed, so it will be interesting.  I'm just mostly excited to get back on a ship!  We have a cruise booked in Sept. 2022, but that seems SO FAR AWAY.  So this will allow me to do some cruise planning in the short term and hopefully step foot on board! Our Alaska cruise was canceled this year - along with a few cruises last year, of course. 

Ah..That's great, even better than I expected.  I'm going to upgrade anyway, but that makes me happy!  Thanks for the replies!