rudeney

You are officially the luckiest man in the world! 🤣

Yeah, like I said, there's no sense in sticking to some arbitrary time limit. We know it when we see it. An like you, I am a very nice person face-to-face. I know my written communication can be quite dry, but I'm not really like that. 🙂

Probably all of the above except young. 🤣

Of course spending wisely is important and there's no sense in wasting money. I was really responding to @goldfish65's comments about how, "It doesn't make sense to fill up with bottom-feeders and have to turn away customers who will spend." My point was that people who are concerned about a gallon of milk costing over $5 instead of $2.89 or a dozen eggs costing nearly $4 instead of $1.79 are not going to be arguing about the price of specialty meals on cruise ship or drinks at a resort because those luxuries are not even a consideration for them.

The issue with inflation is that it mostly affects the people who can least afford it. These are people who may have to decide between feeding their families or paying their car insurance (or car payment). These are not people who stay at resorts or worry about whether they can get the reservations they want in the specialty restaurants on a cruise ship. People who gripe about the price of specialty dining and drink packages on a cruise ship are likely people who might have to decide whether they have go with the more expensive granite on the kitchen remodel, or if they choose a Caribbean cruise over Mediterranean base on airfare prices.

I drink mostly Scotch, so as long as they don't run out of Johnny Walker, Chivas or Macallan, I'll be fine. If I have to drink Dewar's, you might be hearing about it in the news! 🤣

Are there any RCCL employees in the port? I had always assumed they are all contractors.

In my experience, if you are a novice player, the Las Vegas dealers and even other players will help you, and it's not hard to learn how it's played and "perfect strategy". On ships, I find most of the dealers to be duds. Rarely do they interact with the players and they definitely don't help. Also, I've found that my fellow cruise ship passengers are much less friendly than players in Las Vegas. I really enjoy a lively game of Blackjack at a casino, even if I'm not winning, but I rarely find that on a cruise ship.

Hours at a time vs. 30 minutes is a big difference. On sea days when the weather is nice, there are many more people who would like to enjoy some time on a chair around the pool deck than there are chairs for them. Using a chair to store stuff while you spend "hours at a time in the water" is part of the reason why there aren't enough chairs. If you were going back and forth between the chair and the pool, then your are using the chair for yourself and I don't believe anyone would argue about that. How much time is appropriate in that case? "Hours" seems too long, but there's no sense in sticking to some arbitrary amount of time with a stopwatch. I think you know that if you're spending all of your time in he pool and using the chair for storage, then you are going to be considered a "chair hog".

Try this: https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/cruiseline.php?line=Royal Caribbean Pick your ship, then scroll to the bottom for the "cabin check tool"

Yep, I'm fat and not once have I ever been kidnapped!

As others have said, most all full-service hotels have luggage service. And many hotels will let you check in early if they have an available room. Many times I have arrived and check-in before noon at the typical chains - Marriott, Hilton, etc. I would not leave my luggage in the car - there are just too many thieves out there.

This made me think...The luggage tags are nothing special. They seem to be color-coded by ship and floor, and of course the proper quadrant gets highlighted, but otherwise they are all the same. For each person's cruise, they know the ship and the room number, so a simple program written in any popular web-enable script language could easily create the tags on the fly. I have a development team that works for me who could start on this Monday morning and have people printing luggage tags before lunch.

It's Cruise Critic. It's whap happens. If it hadn't evolved, it would probably be locked by now. 🤣

They've never been cheap, but I still like them. 7 or 8 years ago when I was working in an office, a few of us would go there and that meal cost around $13. The last time my wife and I ate there, we shared the fries and the check was about $35. Unless we eat drive-thru food (which we don't) anytime we can eat under $40 now it feels like a bargain!

I've never had a Guy's burger, so I can't give an opinion, but I thought Johnny Rocket's was "Just OK". They are a nice option on the cruise for when you just want a simple cooked-to-order burger. The land-0based restaurants were very busy when they first opened, but after years of neglect, they became so filthy and in such disrepair, I wouldn't eat there. And apparently no one else would, either, as all the ones in Alabama closed. My favorite "fast food" burger is Five Guys, but if I want a really great burger, I go to a place called Mugshots. It's a small chain of sports-pubs out of Mississippi. Best burger I've ever had.

I agree about not overusing antibiotics, but there are times when it's obviously not viral. A painful sinus infection with bright phlegm is 99% of the time bacterial. That's what my daughter had when she went to medical on the ship, and it was confirmed when we returned home and she was treated by our PC doc.

My guess is that since Bar Harbor is tendered, the seas could be too rough and they don't want to take chances. Yes, I also hope that person who fell is OK and all that is bruised is his pride.

If you are in a suite (not JS), you can book in advance. The week prior to your cruise, the concierge will send an introductory email to which you can reply with your preferred dining times/locations.

Click on your name at the top of the page: Now select "Account Settings": Choose "Signature" then edit it in the text box:

This sounds like you don;t actually need a "letter of recovery" - just a positive PCR test more than 10 days before boarding and a lack of symptoms at boarding. I might get a "certificate of recovery" anyhow: You must provide proof of one of the following accepted types of test results: ... 3. Previous positive molecular test result: you no longer have symptoms and provide proof of a positive molecular test taken at least 10 calendar days and no more than 180 calendar days before you board. Counting starts the day after your test. for example, if your positive COVID-19 molecular test was taken on January 1, then January 11 would be the earliest scheduled date you could board https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise

Mine still showed our upcoming cruise, but it gave me a push alert that I needed to check-in. Um, I did that 35 days ago! I clicked it and it started taking me through the process, then said, "Oh, yeah, you're all checked in - see you at 10:30am!" I'm not sure if RCCL does their own programming, but if they do, they shouldn't and if the don't, the need a new software company.

I'm really looking forward to this!

My wife had total knee replacement 3 years ago and while it helped her, it was not a complete fix. She still has issues with it and now the "good knee" is giving her problems. She's very hesitant to have anything done with it until there's no other option. Both of us inherited arthritis from our parents. I had rotator cuff repair almost 3 years ago. It was supposed to be a simple bone spur removal and clean out some arthritis, but it ended up being a "six way" repair. The doc said it was the worst and most involved one he'd seen. Recovery wasn't too bad, but I ended up with a pinched nerve between C5/C6 from surgical positioning, so I now have to get shots for that every 6-12 months when it flares up. The shoulder in now back to about 90% in terms of pain and flexibility, which I understand is very good. I've had hip issues for years, and now it's gotten pretty bad. A replacement should fix it and my doc says it will be a walk in the park compared to the shoulder (which was only bad because of the pinched nerve). But they also found another issue called sacroiliitis, which is apparently not very fixable. I try to stay active. I do all of my own yardwork (which takes an hour for edge, trim, mow and blow). I do a lot of DIY home remodels - big ones. I do my own automotive work and have done some light restorations, engine and transmission rebuilds and even a little body work. My day job is sitting at a desk, so I try to make up for it when I can, but this damned arthritis is really getting to me. Oh, I am also not a "pill" person. Ibuprofen is the strongest pain relieve I take - even post surgery. Of course I may wash it down with a glass of Johnny Walker. 🙂

Growing up in Alabama, and choosing to remain here, you'd think I like the heat. I don't. I can tolerate heat, but the humidity is a deal-breaker for me. Yet I stay. Yes I am crazy. I'd love to be able to walk like that. I was doing 2-3 miles a day, but the arthritis has caught up with me. A trip to Costco can be a major ordeal. I'm waiting to hear from my orthopedic surgeon to see if I can get a hip replacement right after Christmas.