h20skibum

Since we were talking about booking shows, that is one thing I wish Royal was consistent with. For those who don’t know, you need to book the day and time for the shows you want to see on the Oasis Class ships. It can be a real juggling act, trying to get days and times to work with any specialty dining reservations you may want to make. Then to make things more interesting, some shows you want to see, that do not need to be prebooked, may conflict with one of the above. Then, to make things interesting, Royal will not show a realistic schedule of activities on the app, until boarding day. Now, when does booking shows open? Who knows how they arrive at that. For this cruise, we were able to book shows on October 25th, or about 53 days out. However, for our upcoming January 5th sailing on Allure, we could not book shows until December 1st, or about 36 days out. So I guess my advice is to check early and often.

You got me curious also, so I did a little researching. I think Odyssey may just be a sleeker, faster ship. How fast a ship is sailing depends on many factors, like wind speed, sea conditions, and if they have time to make up. It could also vary if they are trying to avoid a storm. Or, maybe the captain’s wife is yelling at him to slow down (which happens to me sometimes when out on our boat) So I looked at data on both ships on marine traffic dot com. This morning, Symphony was sailing at 14.9kn, but is almost back to port Odyssey, on the other hand, was sailing at 21.7kn down in the Caribbean Sea The maximum during the last voyage for Symphony was 18.2 knots with an average speed of 13.1 knots. While that hot rod Odyssey was maxing at 23 knots and averaging 20.3 knots. I may have a daily picture, but it would just b a snapshot in time.

That is some good news. I am ready to be onboard now, and it is only 4:30am.

Thank you. We are looking forward to all the shows. We booked them as soon as booking became available, and got all our preferred times.

It is walking distance from the hotel. It starts only a block away, to the north of Sterling Road.

We walked around Dania Pointe tonight, and they have really expanded since we stayed in this area. We will be here when we get off the ship, and there are some bars and restaurants that are calling me. The Tommy Bahama store with a bar and guitar music The pointe has some nice lighting and decorations

Just got my email from Royal, telling me I need to bid like a fool if I want one of those nice cabins.

Harry, enjoy your cruise on Odyssey. I think you will really like that ship.

He is insane. We leave him alone for a minute, and he looks so innocent. Then you turn your back, and oh the trouble he gets into. IMG_9624.mp4

@Sea Dog Greg, those lights look nice. Is that price an installed price? And for how many feet? I bought a strip of these heavy duty waterproof ones last year to line the perimeter of the roof of the gazebo we have over our hot tub. I have been pleased with the way these have held up, but they have only been up for 16 months. We have them on a couple hours every day. Easy to control from an app on my phone.

Thank you both.

We are at the Springhill Suites on Sterling Road. We have stayed here several times before. Getting laundry done from the last couple days, then heading out to the shopping areas near here.

For something else, cruise related, we did the health check on the app. For those who don’t know, these are done after noon on the day before you sail. They have really reduced the number of questions. after clicking the check in button, choose health status answer two questions, that I am sure does not apply to me. submit, and you are done.

I hope that I read correctly, that ezpass is accepted in the sun pass lanes down here now. We ended up in them to bypass about twelve miles of bumper to bumper traffic. I will have to log in to my account to check it, but it usually takes a while for things to show up.

Due to Daryl’s maniac driving, we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale ahead of schedule. Since it is Friday, we had to stop at our favorite place for their lunch special. I was surprised to see they are open Christmas Day, so we may be there again for dinner. We had the shrimp, shrimp, and more shrimp special. Forty two shrimp between the two of us, so we had some to take to the hotel for later. I found out that Daryl can’t pass up these things.

You know you have arrived in Florida when there are lizards all over the buildings

Thank you both. Just heard from him. They are enjoying seeing Daryl’s adventures. And, as part of our Daryl deal, we received an elf picture. It is evidently picture day.

Now back to some cruise talk. Since we have our “free” cruise, why not try for a Royal up to a GS. When I put in my bid, there were still 6 available at double what the normal price should be. I thought, Heck, nobody is fool enough to pay double for one of those cabins, so I should have a good chance. Haha, evidently there were six fools out there, because they showed sold out before long. Chances are I will not get the upgrade, unless the storms keep someone from getting there. I will be perfectly content with my 2D Ocean View Balcony on deck 6. When I checked cabins earlier this week, there were only two available. A little pricy for a boardwalk balcony Plus they had an aqua theatre suite I wouldn’t be surprised if Royal found two more fools. It is the Season of giving. Isn’t Royal’s motto “Give us more of your money”?

Last year’s trip was the first experience at one. I see there are plans to build car wash bays at Buc-ee’s Daytona. They will probably have a gazillion.

Thank you. I think I may have less time on this thread, once we board tomorrow. By the way, just got this That is only due to my wonderful friends here.

I think I forgot to factor in aimless wandering in my schedule. and, so we did wander. a somewhat, regular tree and a Buc-ee’s tree These were from our stop at Daytona Beach.

What a frightening morning! Daryl wanted to drive the first leg today. He drives like a maniac. I guess he wanted to meet someone special. He got us there 10 minutes ahead of schedule, even though we had stop and go traffic around Jacksonville.

Thank you Dani. Just sent my wishes to him.

Now, for something that inquiring minds want to know. Every time we drive I-95 in South Georgia, we see feral pigs grazing along the interstate. At times, we have counted over 100, but yesterday I only saw 3. Maybe that was because I was driving, and mainly keeping my eyes on the road. Just as I asked Susan if she had spotted any, and she said no, there was one standing there. Now, in Pennsylvania, if we see a deer anywhere near the road, you slow down or stop and hope they don’t run in to you. Do these pigs ever run on to the highway and become someone’s bacon? I sure would hate to go to the insurance company and explain about hitting a pig.

Thanks, and happy birthday to you, Sue.