rudeney

I have a very nice Mercedes-Benz SL550, but I only drive my 2008 Toyota Corolla when I leave the house.

Voyager has several tables in Chops that would accommodate 12 or more and one night I saw a group of maybe 10 at one of them, so it's definitely possible.  

11 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

There should have been numerous CCTV screens in the Engine Control Room, that allow the watch engineer to see nearly all of the engineering spaces.

You are correct:

It was $99pp on Voyager back in October, and that was the advance price offered in Cruise Planner.  It was fun and interesting, but I'd find it a better value at half the price.  I also would love to see the engine room, but that is not allowed on RCCL.  It's too bad they couldn't create a place where you could see into it without being in the dangerous areas.  

11 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

If I knew the Key includes both a Giovanni's embarkation lunch, and a Chops lunch later, I'd be more likely to get it.  Seating in WJ embarkation lunch is such a frequent complaint, that using Chops as an overflow seating sounds like a good idea.  

The Key embarkation lunch is not served in Giovanni's or Chops.  It's a version of the Chops menu served in the MDR.  The food is prepared by the MDR staff in the MDR kitchen, so it may not be quite up the same meal you'd get if you were to eat lunch in Chops.   

Voyager in October, there were no tickets needed - first come/ first served.  We were in a suite, and I think they had a reserved section, but we found really good seats just walking in.

5 hours ago, island lady said:

 

All I know is that I have written confirmation of the prepaid embarkation lunch for the four...listed as Chops.  Will be on the ship two week prior to that lunch, so will ask.  

I had the UDP and had the suite concierge book for me in advance.  I just happened to stop into Giovanni's when I boarded to make sure everything was in order, and that's when I was told lunch was there for embarkation and had been swapped for Chops.  Later that cruise at dinner in Chops, I asked our waiter why that happened and he told me about it being used for  Windjammer overflow.  That may have changed.  I'll be interested to hear your experience. 

On 1/5/2023 at 9:49 AM, island lady said:

Will be doing Chops for breakfast for three weeks, beginning the end of this month.  

 

Though we do have an embarkation lunch (for when my sister joins us) in Chops.  Hope we have better success...it will still be more relaxing than the craziness in the WJ on embarkation day.  😮 

Are they back to serving embarkation lunch in Chops on Voyager?  Back in October, it was listed that way and I booked it, but when we boarded, they had switched it to Giovanni's.  The reason given was that Chops was being used as overflow seating for the Windjammer.

I am a bit OCD.  Not only did I print mine out in color, I Photoshopped them to remove the "fold/staple here" lines, and slightly enlarged them to fully fill the plastic tag holders from Amazon.  😛

October on Voyager, I paid $271.40 for a 50-minute couple's massage on embarkation day, and $376.42 for a 75-minute couple's massage on our last port day.  That was pre-cruise, gratuity included.

I pre-booked two couple's massages for my wife and me on our cruise on Voyager in October.  The first on boarding day, and the second on a port day.  Prices were significantly lower than sea days.  Onboard, I checked some of the "special" prices and none of them came close to what I paid in advance via Cruise Planner.

As for the hard sell tactics, they did do that on the first treatment and we both just politely, but firmly, said no thanks.  On the second treatment, they just asked if we were interested, we said no, and that was it.  

20 hours ago, Toddcan said:

 

It can be a real thing... https://nlhydro.com/good-to-know/how-electricity-can-affect-our-clocks/

 

I wonder how many of those basic alarm clocks are affected by frequency - I know ours was - but that was 16 years ago on our cruise.  Haven't tried a newer clock.   But that article I linked above was from 2022. 

I guess it depends on whether the timing circuit relies on a 60hz AC power feed or if it uses a quartz crystal on a DC circuit.  Once converted to DC there is no timing.  The clock I travel with uses a USB power supply so it's definitely not affected by AC frequency variations.  

16 hours ago, fsjosh said:

Alarm clocks plugged into the ship power is a problem. I don't think it does any damage, but it loses time.(or maybe it's gains. It's been years since I took one.) When I first started using one, as the cruise went along, I noticed being late for dinner and other things. Couldn't figure out why till I compared my watch to the clock and saw it was like 10 minutes off. It's nothing you can't account for, but it is a real thing.

Modern electronic clocks should be totally unaffected by variations in the ship's power.  Old fashioned motors that relied on 60hz power for timing might have been, but modern clocks that convert power to DC voltage and use quartz timing chips should be totally unaffected.

I was on Voyager back in October and did not see that.  I think I recall one organized Pinnacle event that closed it for a few hours, but that was only one night.  They were letting Pinns into the SL - I met a few of them in there and the SL was never very crowded.  VCL was busy every night!

8 hours ago, MightyMike said:

 

I'm genuinely curious why one would not use their cell phone as an alarm clock. Not trying to offend--just curious. 

For me, a few reasons.  One, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I like to see what time it is.  I don't want to have to fiddle with a phone to get the time.  I know can make my phone's clock stay on the screen, but then I have to either pick it up and look at it or bring a charging stand. Also, I have my phone set to go intot total no sound, no light, and no vibrate mode at night.  I don't need to be woken at 4am by an alert that Amazon recommends something to go with the crap I bought last week or that my car warranty has expired.. 

Instead of thos hassles, I travel with a small LED alarm clock that projects the time on the ceiling.  All I have to do is open one eye and look up to see what time it is.  It's USB powered and also has an extra USB charging port.  To me, it's much more convenient that using the phone.  Having said that, I rarely ever set an alarm.  I usually wake up around 5-6am naturally, so unless I need to get up earlier than that for some reason, no alarm is necessary.  

Did the All-Access our on Voyager back in October.  it was interesting, but not worth $99pp (maybe $50pp).  No gifts or anything, just the tour.  It was interesting and I learned a lot.  Years ago I did a galley tour and I thought that was better (it included a good meal), but I don't think that tour has returned since COVID.  

6 hours ago, RedIguana said:

And serve both of them liberal drams of scotch!

My sure-fire cure for the common cold:  Mucinex DM Maximum Strength and Johnnie Walker Black Label.  It works every time and with that regimen, I've never had a cold last more than week.  

4 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

Are you thinking of the pub? The floor plans for Voyager show The Tavern on deck 4. The promenade is deck 5.

Oh, yes, you are absolutely right - I am thinking of The English Pub on 5.  I didn't even realize that bar on 4 aft of the casino had a name.  

I did not find The Tavern to be relaxing.  It was always packed with crowds spilling over into The Promenade.  Service was slow and waits at the bar were long.  It was the one bar on Voyager that I did not enjoy at all.  

I did the tour on Voyager in October.  It was just a few weeks before sailing when it showed up in the planner.  The price was about $100 per person.  It was interesting, and I'm glad I did it, but I'd say it's worth more like $50.  

Here you go:

I was on Voyager back in October and found the VOOM Internet service to be "adequate".  I was able to use my phone for wifi calling and texting, and I used my laptop to do a live report on Cruise Critic complete with photos (I did resize them from the original 12MP to about 1MP).  I also watched a college football game streaming on my laptop with Hulu.  I bought the "Stream" service which is supposed to provide up to 5Mbps, but I don't think I ever saw it that fast.

Since it's a satellite connection, weather can greatly affect the speed.  On cloudy days, it could be nearly unusable.  Another issue I found is that the onboard wifi access points don't "hand-off" very well.  I'd have good service, then move to another part of the ship and it would be nearly unusable.  To solve that, I would turn wifi off and back on to get a "fresh" connection after relocating.

I wasn't sure I wanted to post this, or what topic to put it under, but here it is.  You may have read my "live" report from Voyager of the Seas the week of October 2nd where my wife Jan and I sailed to New England and Canada.  We had a fantastic cruise and it will leave me with many wonderful lasting memories.  Unfortunately, those will be the last good memories that I will have of Jan.  She passed away on November 3rd. 

We returned home Sunday, October 9th.  That following Wednesday night, she was complaining of a sore throat and by Thursday morning she was feeling worse and tested positive for COVID.  Her symptoms were mostly the sore throat and a dry cough (no real congestion).  She wasn't running a fever and had not body aches.  By Saturday morning, I had the same symptoms and was also positive.  My symptoms cleared in a few days, and by the next Wednesday, I was testing negative.  Jan had not gotten any worse, but not any better.  Our doctor had called in a steroid pack and cough syrup, but neither were doing any good.  By Thursday, she was coughing almost continually, but still a dry cough with no congestion.  She was coughing so hard that her chest hurt and she was even having a hard time catching her breath from all of it.  I checked her blood oxygen saturation and it was in the 80's so we went to the ER.  

She spent spent two weeks in the hospital, 12 of which were in the ICU.  I kept a blog to keep friends and family updated that is over 40 pages long, but here's the summary version.  Basically, the doctor determined that she had been suffering from a pulmonary embolism for at least a year, based on existing symptoms which were a chronic cough, shortness of breath, and swelling in the feet and legs.  These are all things she had sought treatment for, but no doctor ever put them together and wanted to check or treat her for PE.  She just assumed the shortness of breath was due to age, weight, and lack of exercise.  The cough was sort of left over from a minor cold she had last fall.  COVID basically exacerbated the PE, so they treated her with oxygen and blood thinners.  She had to have high-flow CPAP/BiPAP oxygen delivery and that's whe whe was in the ICU.  After a week in the hospital, she began to improve.  We assumed the PE was breaking up as her oxygen saturation was improving requiring lower levels of delivery.  

That improvement only lasted a few days.  She contracted a staph strain of pneumonia and things quickly went downhill.  On Monday, October 31st, we (Jan, me and the medical team) made the decision to sedate and intubate her.  That was the last time I was able to talk to her and after being together for nearly 40 years, there wasn't much we needed to say, but we still took the opportunity to spend time together.  She never really improved and by Thursday, her stats were so bad that I made the decision to remove the life-saving measures and she passed peacefully.  Although I was devastated with losing my wife and my best friend, I was glad that her suffering was over and thankful that it only lasted a few weeks.

This in now way makes me afraid of COVID or of cruising.  I truly believe that had she not contracted pneumonia while in the hospital that she would be here today, happy and healthy.  I don't blame anyone for what happened, although I do wish that over the last year, one of her docs would had put together her symptoms and treated her for the PE.  I am not sure when I will cruise again, but I am sure I will.  I am so very glad that we were able to spend time with just the two of us on that last cruise.  I could not image any better way to remember her.  

We were in a GS on Voyager a month ago and it was not wall-mounted dispensers.  There was bar soap (which I liked) and I think an individual bottle of body wash/shampoo combo (which neither of us used).  

We always book suites that are under the pool deck and know that we might have some noise form above, but about the worst we've experienced is the crew cleaning and moving deck chairs around 6:00am at the earliest. Anything earlier than that is ridiculous and I'd be looking to have it addressed.  I agree with others - talk to the Diamond concierge or even the Loyalty Ambassador.