sgmn

@h20skibumyou always do the most amazibg things with your grandchildren. That cake is VERY impressive 👏 

@A&L_Ontsorry to hear your jaw problem is still ongoing, hope it gets back to normal soon. 

@dani negreanu oh Dani , this year just isn't your year for carefree travelling !!

So sorry to hear you and hubby were unwell on the way home. I hope you're both fully recovered and it wont put you off travelling again soon 

i wasn't on line when you were on your cruise, did you enjoy it? Was it better than Beyond? 

Hope your cousin makes a rapid recovery 

On 9/30/2023 at 8:27 PM, TravelGirlinDallas said:

 

As far as wearing a dress when traveling, that's a hard no, considering the thigh chafing that would occur... especially in hot weather.

You can get anti chafing shorts/underwear to wear under dresses that I'm interested in, anyone tried them ?

https://www.thebigbloomerscompany.co.uk/collections/anti-chafing-knickers

Chops offer a small steak and our waiter gave us one baked potatoe between two of us.

Skip the bread, it's a big filler

You can always skip the pasta course in the Italian restaurant and the soup/salad course in Chops, my husband always does.

Last week in Chops the couple at the table next to us got their desert 'to go'.

Seems strange that all the vendors in all the ports seem to of come out with these restrictions in the last two to three years.  Both for age and being medically 100% fit with no medical history. It was difficult to choose something interesting,  there were so many conditions. 

Do the vendors at the ports have the same conditions if you buy locally?  In which case is it the vendors or Royal Caribbean ?

9 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Your dress is beautiful!  Looks like y'all are having a great time!  Keep the pics coming. 

I love the dress too, lovely photos @Momof3gurlz

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

The waiter did bring over the floor supervisor and got him involved. The man was still saying to the girls, just watch I'll get you more lobster and pushing every time the waiter walked by. So he tells the floor manager same thing, the girls lobster was stale, they need replacements. Stale? Yes. Repeated to the floor mgr who probably at that point said go ahead and give them another. So it worked. 

Hate people who bully others to get what they want , especially people who can't really answer back like the waiter. 

Shared tables are tricky . We've had some marvellous dinner companions, other times, usually because of language barriers, it's been more difficult 

Happy Belated Birthday Jane 🎂 

Hope you enjoyed your B2B and safe travels home.

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good evening it is 19.40pm here in England.

I hope everyone is safe and well and having a great day.

It has been sunny all day here and 65°F.

We went to the beach for several hours today and had a picnic and ice cream.

 

Looks lovely Graham, it's so much lighter further north than us in the south unless the  pic was taken earlier in the day.

Went out to the boat this afternoon to give it a good clean as we're taking it out tomorrow with my brothers . Hoping the weather stays good 

8 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I'd suggest doing some research before ordering a full-face mask.  We asked about them on a snorkel excursion somewhere (might have been Woodwind in Bonaire) and were told that they don't use those masks.  If you are snorkeling for a longer period of time, carbon dioxide can build up in the mask.  

Full-face snorkel mask causes IPO fatality - DIVE Magazine

I was going to post this. I have got a full face mask but am aware of the risk of carbon dioxide build up.  I think you have to breathe deeply and evenly, if shallow and fast that's when you get the build up. I don't use it long and always with someone. 

On our excursions we used the providers normal mask and  snorkel 

19 hours ago, Gardener5b said:

It appeared maybe about 20 cabins (double occupancy).  I'm guessing many more may have had it and not reported to medical, based upon the coughing, etc. we heard early on during the cruise.  We always travel with Covid tests and appropriate meds just in case.  I was grateful we were offered Paxlovid-- I declined due to mild symptoms, but my husband is at higher risk.  He had virtually no symptoms once he started on Paxlovid.  

Sorry to hear you got covid. I was also on this cruise and was quite pleased I caught it early August to get it out-of the way. 

Hubby's come home with a cold but he's tested twice and it's just a cold, not covid 

19 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

You are correct, no facial recognition at Boston terminal.  We got stuck in a long line that didn't move for quite awhile. 

Any idea how many on our sailing had covid?

There were so few non US folk it actually worked out really well for us.  We had to go to dinning room where we were seen straight away by immigration.   After a couple of questions and inputting of computer info we were shown out-of the MDR and a short walk to exit the ship, no queue 😬

19 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

What was the point collecting your passport the next to last day?

When we arrived in Boston we had to see usa customs on the ship before departing the ship. I guess they took the pps so this could be done 

22 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

Unfortunately, I had a bad experience at the dentist today.  He gave me a gallon of numbing agent (needle) but one tooth is very problematic and I felt extreme pain as he was trying to pull it.  He wants me to come back tomorrow to be put under.  He said he feels sorry and that I shouldn't have to experience pain like I did. So, to be continued tomorrow.  He's a top rated oral surgeon so I am sure he knows what he's doing.

So sorry for you Bonnie, tooth pain is awful. I'm such a baby at the dentist but she knows me well and looks after me 

On 9/28/2023 at 7:24 PM, Arzeena said:

Suggestions on Serenade aft balconies:

Deck 8 or 9, any particular cabin #s?

Thanks. 

I had 9660 and loved it 

On 9/27/2023 at 10:37 PM, Jimbo said:

Yes,it's positive  we have Covid ,there goes our chance of seeing our Son and other relatives before heading back to Virginia 

 

Sorry to hear Jimbo, hope its mild 🙏 

Enjoyed your mini blog Jane, hope you're having a fab second week

On 9/22/2023 at 3:10 PM, firefly333 said:

 

Going to go look for John's machine, with Heidi at the top. Cant be any worse. Gambling so far isnt my thing. I keep saying after I move and cruise more I will gamble more for those free cruises but lady luck has fled. 

Heidi wasn't kind to us on Serenade. First couple of days we had very minor wins, $15 or so but then it all went downhill.

Min bid I think was .90cents so it took us seconds to burn through our $10 stake 🤣

4 minutes ago, nelblu said:

The place is mainly empty since the introduction of the new drink(s) policy.  I use the DL simply for my need to use the coffee machine and the printer.

We've been on Med cruises where the DL is pretty empty, less than half dozen in there,  but our recent Serenade repo from TPA to BOS, the very small lounge was pretty packed during the peak time and even during the day it was busy.  The spill over VC lounge was pretty busy too.

9 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

Will it save money to walk it back to the old happy hour?  I suspect it averaged more than four or five drinks per Diamond member during the old happy hour.   There were lots of doubles ordered; lots of generous pours.  Plenty of people seemed to try to maximize the drinks ordered in that timeframe.  

Exactly, what's the difference between four (diamond) drinks in 24 hours or potentially six or more drinks squeezed into the old happy hours 

 Drinks are cheap for them to offer anyway.

The only thing if they went back to the old HH more people may buy the DP because they want to drink outside the Happy Hours, which would be to RC's benefit. Or buy a couple of drinks after 8pm . 

If perks get watered down it will encourage us to look elsewhere instead of just sticking to RC and Celebrity. 

We do usually book tours through Royal Caribbean plus a dinning package and gifts from their shops so frequent cruisers do spend money on board 

On 9/25/2023 at 11:29 AM, Sunshine3601 said:

@sgmn  Hi Sue, I hope you were able to enjoy your day in Boston and your flight home went as planned.

It was really nice to meet you.  

Did you and Gary like the tuna?

We cut the sightseeing short as Boston was cold and rainy,  we caught the 1pm water taxi to the airport and just hung out till our 7pm flight. At least we had Internet at the airport .

Flight was on time and our pick up was waiting at LHR for us so home by 8.30am on Monday. 

I was pretty much out of it for most of Monday and Tuesday we babysat Isasc so I've only just finished the laundry today 😅 

Gary's come home with a bad cold so he's been taking it easy.

Hope you had a smooth flight home and work wasn't too hard on Monday 

On 9/25/2023 at 12:03 AM, jagsfan said:

I use half of my Diamond voucher every couple of  days to buy a bottle of water and a can of Diet  Coke. 
Wind up usually  up leaving some in the fridge. 

Last couple of days   once we had finished up the water package, we spent our last diamond vouchers of the day on water too

Over the last two weeks I've missed so much on Dani's thread so apologies if I've missed something important and haven't commented on it. 

@dani negreanuI hope you've had a wonderful visit with your son and family in Amsterdam 

@JimboI saw a few of your photos of your cruise. It looks like a fantastic itinerary, I hope you enjoyed it as much as you hoped. Sorry to hear you and your wife are unwell. Gary has come home from our trip with a bad cold.  Safe travels home. 

@Sea Dog wow that stone sounds really painful . Hope it's passed and things are getting better

@A&L_Ontsorry you're feeling rotten with your jaw issues, hope it resolves itself soon

On 9/25/2023 at 10:51 PM, Luckynana said:

It looks like beautiful weather you're enjoying in England, Graham.  We've had rain, wind, drizzle, you name it!  Everything but sun.  LOL! 

I always enjoy your food photos, but you've got me baffled with this sandwich🤔

Bacon butty 😋

On 9/23/2023 at 7:14 PM, Luckynana said:

Happy Anniversary, Sue and Gary!!💕🥂🎉💕

Please tell me about the underwater park in Bonaire?  Was this a cruise excursion, or privately booked?  I'll be there in March on the Beyond,

It was a RC excursion.  To Klein Bonaire, a tiny island just off Bonaire. There's loads of ways to get there including a water taxi which is the cheapest   there's very little shade on the island and no buildings or shops  so if you go independently it may be good to bring a cool box with cold drinks with you. 

The excursion we were on was a very old authentic Chinese Junk which was moored a short distance from our ship. To get there you transfer on rib boats which was fun but a bit difficult to get from the rib onto the junk boat.  A push from behind helped 😂

On the way over they served non alcoholic punch and on the way back alcoholic punch. They provided snorkeling gear if you need it and flippers. 

once in the water the current very gently drifts you down the length of the island alongside the Coral reef. Its not too strong and only a few feet from the island so easy to get out when you want.  Highly recommend Klein Bonaire 

On 9/23/2023 at 6:38 PM, Sunshine3601 said:

Sue and I finally met this morning in lounge.   Our guys were both sleeping due rough seas last night.   

She is a lovely person🥰  Wish we has met sooner but was really nice to meet today.  We chatted for a while.

I really enjoyed meeting you too Debbie. ☺️ it was great to finally meet up after chatting for several year, I felt I knew you very well.

Back to reality now after a great cruise. Serenade is a great little ship, staff are lovely and they work hard to keep her shipshape.

Missed the turndown service but not as much as I thought I would.  Its certainly something I can live with. 

Food was mostly fine though the one time we ate dinner in the Windjammer I was a bit disappointed by the offerings, especially dessert 🍨 

Park Cafe was our go to for lunch. 

First time at Coco Cay, I enjoyed the free loungers, food was very good and liked the ice cold water/flavoured waters available.

Didn't like the crowds, and disappointed the snorkeling wasn't good.  We went to South Beach and stopped off at the lagoon pool to cool off on way back to boat. Very crowded there and very much a party atmosphere. 

We got our first block on this cruise. I was surprised how small it was, I guess I had imagined it to be about 9" by 6"

It was the old fashioned uncoloured block

Ports were great. I loved loved loved Bonaire and Curaçao. Bonaire we did a drift reef snorkel on a very old Chinese junk boat, saw amazing tropical fish and a turtle. Curaçao we did an excursion to two beaches. First was a fisherman's port famous for wild turtles. We saw loads and loved swimming with these wonderful creatures. Then onto a prettier beach with loungers and beach bar, which had a coral reef so snorkeling was great there with shoals of tropical fish

We skirted around a named tropical storm on the way up to Boston, so weather was bad the last day with huge Seas 🌊  which caused Gary to be a bit seasick.  Weather was also cold and rainy in Boston so we cut our sightseeing short, picked up our bags from the water taxi wharf and caught an earlier water taxi back to the airport.

Overnight flight,  I only got an hours sleep  so was shattered on arrival back in UK. My bed was the best thing ever 😌 

No more cruises booked till our mini segment of the world cruise next July, though if we get a good deal we may jump on something early part of next year