sgmn

2 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Good evening.  Another beautiful day in Victoria.  Nice views for the guests on Explora

 

We did an early morning walk to and across the Johnson Bridge then around the Harbour edge. Us Aussies were delighted to watch the otters swimming in the water. Absolutely blessed with this weather.

 

 

 

Had a nice lunch on the patio overlooking the harbour at Spinnakers Brewpub.  Then hopped on one of the cute little harbour ferries back to The Empress Hotel.  Flowers outside the hotel look pretty in the sunshine.

 

 

We have Neil the (Elephant)  Seal getting up to lots of mischief in a Tasmanian town.  Victoria BC has Emerson the (Elephant) Seal deciding that being moved by the authorities 150km from Victoria to near Ucluelet was not appealing so he swam 30km per day for 4 days,  back to his favourite beach in Victoria and we unexpectedly met him snoozing peacefully in the sun on the beach today, letting out a few snorts much to the amusement of the kids watching from above.  
 

 

 

We also visited the Bug Zoo which is around the corner from our Condo.  We all found it fascinating due to the passionate staff.  I’ll spare you the photos of the Tarantulas which were my favourite.

 

Dinner was at the Sticky Wicket Pub.
 

 Post dinner we strolled down to see the Parliament Buildings lit up - which is probably the only thing cruisers see on their very short time in Victoria on many itineraries.

 

Beautiful photos Aussie.  I've been there once on a cruise port and Gary started his trans Canada bike ride from Victoria.  He has a good friend who lives there and who cycled the first few days into the Rockies with him.

Heard from my old Emirates colleagues about terrible flooding in Dubai causing havoc at the airports and the city.  Feel for my friends dealing with massive disruptions.  Been there too many times ......

Talking about weather in the UK we had all four seasons yesterday with rain and winds, sunshine and a hailstorm with big chips of ice.  

41 minutes ago, snaefell said:

 

As for spirits I was once given a miniature bottle of Gordon's AF gin with pink grapefruit,all you could taste was pink grapefruit which made me question the point of buying AF Gin which,here in the UK at least,tends to be pretty much the same price as the alcoholic version!

That leads me to the biggest bugbear when it comes to drinking AF IMO,that is the price you will pay when out & about,in bars & restaurants here in the UK LA & AF beers can be twice the price of the alcoholic beers,to me if I was the designated driver out for a night with my mates I wouldn't be too pleased at having to pay twice as much to stay sober as my mates who were happily getting sloshed!😆😆

Totally agree about the prices.  I quite like Captain Morgan Spiced Gold 0.0,  hubby has it with coke and I like it with ginger ale, but its very close to the normal price for a bottle of rum in the supermarket.

BTW Tescos own NA gin and tonic mini cans are IMO better than Gordon's version 

We've had a few sunny spring days and yesterday we went for a walk along the Thames at Henley.  The river is still very fast and code red as it has been for months now, so no boats allowed out.  Here's a picture of the weir and lock at Henley 

Today is back to cloud and rain with  high winds 

7 hours ago, wrg said:

Hi all,

We are officially 40 days out. When should I expect the portal to allow us to begin reserving on-bard activities and shows? Thank you.

Which ship? Vision and Radiance class of ship don't have pre bookable shows. No reservations required.

Though there will be some onboard activities such as cupcake decorating or ships tour that you can book in advance.  

5 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We will be doing the opposite in April.  I will need to figure out how to get from Southampton to downtown London.  We’ll have too many bags I think to take a train. We actually will get off in Portsmouth, then I want to spend a couple of nights there or Southampton, taking the train to bath and maybe Cotswold? Then we’ll spend a week in London before flying home. We’ll skip Stonehenge but will do a day trip out to Windsor.

Oooh are you doing the Brilliance cruise?  I'm looking at either that one or Independance MIA to SOU

 Both good ports for a transatlantic and prices are good too. 

I've never known RC to end in Portsmouth before 

48 minutes ago, gatour said:

Thanks everyone.  I figured th NA liquor was going to be a non starter.

 

 

I am relatively new to this.  I was normally a wine drinker esp. with dinner.  I need to make a visit to Total Wine to checkout NA wine.  I am relatively new to this NA thing since zi just got my relacement liver at the beginning of March.  A

 

There are some great NA beers around including Guinness 0.0 which apparently is very good, but I've yet to taste a good NA wine.

NA liquors (Gin, Rum lookalikes etc) are widely available in supermarkets and pubs now and great with tonic water or coke, so I really don't understand why Royal Caribbean is so slow to include more NA choice.  

1 hour ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Well,   this Aussie koala will definitely be doing the full Love Actually Airport scene - flight has been pushed back a further 1 1/2hrs.  But who knows what the next update will be in the morning….

Oh no , sorry you've got aviation delays. Are you at the airport all this time ? 

15 minutes ago, gatour said:

As a recent liver transplant recipient I am now an officially a tee-totaler.

 

Curious about what non alcholic beers are avaiable.  Also any mocktails that are non-heavy i.e drinks no strawberry daiquiris or pina coladas.

 

I know this is probably asking for too much but what non alhohic liquor.  Things like non alcohol tequila.  This is a relatively recent phenomenon so it might be a bit early for cruise ships to stock it.  Ilove my margarita esp. on a cruise.  Locally several place will make a margarita with non alcohol tequila.  Not exactly a real margarita taste wise but close enough.

There's now a big choice in the shops and pubs of non alcoholic drinks, beers and wines. Unfortunately I haven't  noticed much from Royal Caribbean apart from one or two choice of beer and the non alcoholic cocktails (which are usually too sweet for me).

Hoping in the future more will be offered 

10 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Sending prayers from Australia that Dani, Jack’s sister and their families and all those they hold dear stay safe.  

Reading about what happened when I woke this morning. What a sad day for Israel and the world. Thankfull that the defenses worked well

Dear Dani @dani negreanu my thoughts and prayers are with you and Aaron and your family. And with Bonnie's in laws @BonTexasNY

I pray for peace in the region and for our poor world

12 hours ago, Luckynana said:

 

BELATED BIRTHDAY WISHES, RENEE!!!!!!    🎈  I hope you had a great day!!!!    🎈

Very Happy belated birthday wishes from me too  😊 @ReneeFLL

On 4/9/2024 at 6:26 PM, dani negreanu said:

 

As of 2 hours ago, Bella is no longer suffering. I'm typing this with tears in my eyes.

Oh my goodness, what a shock She was the sweetest little pup.  How awful for John and Laura.  😔

RIP little Bella

On 4/8/2024 at 11:19 PM, HBE4 said:

 

I forgot to play a special Playlist. "Here Comes the Sun", "Paint it Black", "Total Eclipse of the Heart"...

Bonnie Tyler was on the radio this morning.  In her 70s now,  'Total Eclipse of the Heart' just came back into the charts 

9 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

 

Actually they're quite competitive with any urban/suburban bar/restaurant, if not cheaper.

Well they're more expensive than my local pub, though agree similar to a city centre restaurant or sporting arena. The difference being you may only spend a couple of hours at that football or musical event, or occasionally visit a city centre bar.  

On board you're a captive audience for maybe several weeks with no other choice apart from port stops. 

Personally if I didn't have my diamond drinks I would pay per drink. No way could I bring myself to pay so much hard earned money on an alcohol package, especially on the longer cruises with long port days that I prefer.

Oh for the days pre covid when a) prices were more reasonable 

B) they had wine and beer packages

C) they had the 10 drink cards which were shareable and at a discount 

So cool, thanks guys for your personal experiences.  Still watching on TV.  One guy said he's seen 7 total eclipse since 1972

16 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

They really do! At first, I thought I got scammed as they looked like cheap 3-D movie glasses. Then when I put then on inside the house,  I couldn't see a thing. I thought maybe the lens was covered & needed to be peeled off. 

 

But when I looked at the sun, wow. I'm guessing maybe 25% coverage.  

 

Following the rolling TV coverage as the eclipse slowly makes it way across the States and Canada 

16 minutes ago, LadyZolt said:

We docked in Tianjin yesterday and those of us on the included excursions had a choice of going to either just the Great Wall (and having a shorter, more manageable day), or the Forbidden City and the Great Wall (which was about a 17-hour excursion). My husband and I did the latter one. It was a long day -- we didn't get back aboard the ship until about 1 am. We went first to lunch, then the Forbidden City where our guide spent about two hours telling us about it. We then went to dinner and after the sun set, we drove to the Badaling section of the Great Wall.  We didn't know it until our guide told us, but the Great Wall is usually only open at night in the summer months. They had it open especially for this Royal Caribbean cruise, and the only people on it last night were those of us who went on this excursion! We were *very impressed* with how Royal Caribbean handled this included experience.  Both lunch and dinner were fabulous as well with lots of choices in food served "family style" as they do in China. And not only was the Great Wall open for us, but they had groups of performers doing dances, including dragon dances, and music, to welcome us as we entered the area. The souvenir shops were also open so we could get a souvenir. We could not be more impressed with how things went yesterday. Kudos to Royal Caribbean! 

Fascinating,  this is so truly a world cruise in every sense. 

Great photos and sounds a great day 

8 hours ago, Gardener5b said:

We are in the path of totality, with expected time of 3 minutes 29 seconds.   They are expecting crazy amounts of traffic in our area.   Several major roadways have been designated for emergency vehicle access, and they are warning residents that cell phone coverage will probably be overwhelmed.    They are even starting our weekly trash pick up to begin at 5am to be off the streets ahead of the eclipse.  Thankfully we don't have to travel.  We have our Eclipse glasses, so are all set to watch from our home.

There's a story in my online Times about Brits going to USA just to see the eclipse.

You're so lucky it's in your neighbourhood.  Enjoy !!

10 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you Sue.

Sunderland.

 

Ah maybe just in the 5 min zone, more than us in the South anyway 

3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

It is based on the book and the film .I never read the books nor did I ever see the film .The series is very well made .There was only one flaw that I detected .

Thanks Lenny and Debbie @Sunshine3601 I'll add it to my list of programmes to watch.

 what was the flaw ?

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you Sue.

There was 6500 passengers on board including 2000 first time cruisers but it didn't feel crowded

There are no tips required on board and no additional gratuities on drinks or food although I did tip in the speciality restaurants because the food and service was outstanding.

The price of drinks are reasonable considering they have a captive audience.

Aurora and Arcadia the 2 smallest and oldest ships are Adults only.

Arvia,Azura,Britannia,Iona and Ventura are all nice ships.

The biggest and newest Arvia and Iona have much more choice of everything.

We were on Iona in November 2023 and January2023 for 14 nights and March 2024 for 7 nights.

2 negatives on this ship are the deck 8/9 balconies are not private because of the wrap around promenade deck on deck 8.

The aft balconies are great but the Infinity pool on deck 16 has been known for people splashing water on the balconies below.

 

Thanks Graham. I think we may give them a go maybe in a year or two.  

BTW I'm not sure exactly where you live but there's a chance you may see a partial eclipse of the sun tomorrow,7.55pm 

47 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Graham says hello to everyone 

Kids 752 (Way too many) as school is in session 😳

Hello Graham 👋 

752 children does seem a lot for the size of ship , especially if it's not the hols in the States.

Over here it's still Easter holidays this week and next so maybe it's all the Brits gone over

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

I pre-booked online all of our 7 nights in Speciality restaurants.

 

 

 

Food photos look fab as always Graham.  I've been spending a bit of time over at the P@O CC pages as it's at the back of my mind to give them a go as they're year round from UK.  The prices seem comparable to RC but on board charges for drinks and extras seem more reasonable. 

Which is your favourite ship?

14 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I do not think there will be a season 2.

I presume its based on the book and film The Talented Mr Ripley?   Apparently the author wrote a few books with Ripley as the main character so you never know

6 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

Rolling Stones in June 

Good reason 👌