cruiselvr04

We had an OV coming up and were only offered a balcony.  When we cruise in balconies we are offered suites of various levels. 

2 hours ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Extremely sad & difficult day here.  One of our dogs, Oliver, passed away late last night.  I have always included him and Emma in my Live reports.  I posted about him last week mentioning several of his health issues many of which all culminated recently over the last month.  He is breathing freely now in heaven.  Words cannot express how greatly he will be missed.  He’ll always be my “Goodest and Handsomest Boy” as I told him daily.  Here’s a few of my favorite photos of him.

Cheers to Oliver 🍻

 

 

 

So sorry for your loss.  It’s so hard to lose them.

20 hours ago, jmh2006 said:

Thank you for the birthday wishes!  I wish I could say it was the best day ever, but I actually spent all morning at the hospital with my DH, Dave, who had a second kidney stone episode yesterday.  So most of yesterday was in the ER, he spent the night at the hospital and this morning had another stent put in.  The first round came last December.  This stone is bigger and since we are scheduled to depart for Italy and our cruise on Explorer a week from today he is having lithotripsy performed on Monday the 20th.  Not exactly the best birthday but that is okay as long as we make our trip.  Anyway he is comfortable now and we did go to a Sushi restaurant in Detroit tonight for dinner so it wasn't all bad! 😁

Hoping you still get to go on your cruise.  DH once got discharged from the hospital at 4 p.m. and 12 hours later we were on the way to the airport for a cruise.  Bummer when health issues come up.

On a happy note we just got upgraded on Monday’s cruise.  Our TA couldn’t get us anything more then a OV when we booked and now we’ll have a balcony. I much prefer them when we can get them. 

We cruise Royal for their nightly entertainment.  It’s the best.  Others are watered down.  We love live music on even the smaller ships, 4 singers in production shows not 2 like other lines.
 

Last cruise we had a couple that sang as well as a great guitarist. In addition there was a piano violin duo. This was in addition to the piano bar guy and production shows.  The ship pulled all the live music performers into a show together and it was great!  The orchestra played a John Williams number. This was all on a small ship.  Fabulous live entertainment! 

Live music in Central Park is one of our favorite things.  Karaoke gets old and is “free” entertainment for the cruise line. The live orchestra’s make the show and we love the “High Seas” orchestra solo acts. We miss the live music in the dining room - that was cut before covid.  

If cuts are made in entertainment Royal will lose us simply because then they become like all the rest.  There are people who are foodies.  We are music/entertainment people. We DO notice.

So I’m sure hoping it’s rumors and not cuts. 

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

Usually, many times we miss the 5PM dining times due to late arriving Royal excursions.  We basically pre-advise the head waiter, and he helps set up a future time for that night. This happened twice on our Easter Anthem sail in Port Canaveral and Nassau. As a matter of fact, we had a table for 8 and got the same table as assigned.

 

I've seen over time that many tables or seats for the early seating go unused and MTD are accommodated even prior to the 6:45 time frame

 

This.  If you know you’ll be late due to an excursion let your waiter now the night before.  They will usually want to accommodate and make you happy. Being late just because you didn’t get ready in time is different.  
 

DH has a food allergy and pre orders every night.  We have been late due to a ship excursion more then once. They have given him his food to go and we’ve taken it to the WJ. But usually they insist that we sit down and eat at an empty table. If we do that, we eat quickly and usually skip dessert so we can get out of their way for the next seating. On bigger ships, different maitre d, YMMV but it doesn’t hurt to ask. If it wasn’t for his allergy we’d just go to the WJ. 

Ooooo, this is sad to hear.  I loved being able to get right through.  I don’t call much anymore but there are times when it’s needed.  An agent not even knowing about the world cruise is crazy bad. 

2 hours ago, MJSailors said:

@Tree_skier I feel the need to respond to your post concerning an informal survey re: husbands giving wives gifts for Mothers’Day.

It seemed to me a bit sarcastic,hopefully that was not your intent.Perhaps you were just curious if other husbands mark the occasion for their wives. I am not certain of your motivation,of course.

I will give you a little backstory as to my husband giving me flowers for the occasion.

On my first “real”Mothers’Day, my DH gave me a bouquet from our infant son,Christopher John. Sadly, we lost our infant boy shortly after to SIDS. This was in 1987. Christopher John would have been thirty-seven this past February.

We had no other children, but my DH would always give me flowers for Mothers’ Day .My husband is a loving and generous man. He always wants me to know that I am a very caring and loving person.We have been fortunate all theses years to be surrounded by loving and supportive family and friends. I am an aunt and a godmother to a number of children.

In 2004,I hired a teacher for our department. She and I became close friends. So close that she and her husband have “adopted” us as the parents she never truly had. We are considered grandparents to her two children.

Miracles can happen. We lost our baby son,and it took some time,but we have gained a family that we truly love and they truly love us.

As others have posted,we do not exchange gifts any longer. We celebrate with experiences rather than giving things. At this stage if life,we are trying to dispose of some of our things, not collect them.

My DH has always marked occasions with flowers. It is something he does from his heart.

I may suggest that you think of surprising your wife with some flowers tomorrow. She may be quite glad if you do.

MJ

I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m glad you gained another family to fill your life. I’m sure they are very thankful for you. 
 

My favorite thing for Mother’s Day is a call or visit with each of my kids.  I do appreciate a card from DH but I don’t need gifts.  I saw my son last weekend and he gave me Lego flowers to put together.  That’s the best kind as they will last forever. I spent time with 2 daughters tonight and the other daughter and I took a weekend trip together last month. I am blessed.  

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

We were bummed as others in our city had success. We will try again tonight. We drove about 30 minutes outside the city to get away from the light pollution but did not see anything. 

We’re in Northwest AR and saw some pink by camera only. This was about 9 p.m.  We later drove out past the city lights but unfortunately didn’t see anything around 11 p.m.  Tonight we might try outside the city around 9 since that time seemed better. 

21 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Oh boy, last cruise a young Boy of about 7 came up next to me and grabbed a slice of watermelon from the brand new tray and then put it back and I nicely told him he can’t do that and the dad ran over and started to scream at me telling me I have no right to talk to his child.  I didn’t say a word to him. He scared me.

Quietly a crew member snuck in and took the whole tray away,. This is an example of why children act the way they do on ships, bad parenting. I truly wish everything in the WJ would be served to us as it was during Covid.

To be fair, it’s not just kids who do this.  On Brilliance we saw a women lick all her fingers in the serving line at the buffet and then pick up tongs.  Yes we reported it.  We don’t eat often in there and that confirmed why. People can be really gross. 

We don’t use the pools much.  When we do it’s usually at the end of the day after a hot excursion or a hot tub for a few minutes. Afterwards it’s an immediate shower with soap.  
 

This is probably going to be an ongoing problem. You have a huge ship that caters to families, families with small children. 

We did a side to side from Terminal G to Terminal A in Miami.  Plan on a cab ride.  It’s unsafe to walk, no sidewalks.  It cost us $20.  Guest services might say there is a shuttle but they seem to be uninformed, we couldn’t find one and we were told by outside pier workers to take a cab.

It’s not a deal breaker and we enjoyed both cruises on the a small and large ship. 

I love our blocks and they are on display in my home. I never bring them to a guests attention but they are there.

I’m not sure where our D+ pins are.  
 

As long as they don’t have a “better then you” attitude I enjoy talking to Pinns and I don’t think they are over the top if they want to wear their name tag, especially in the evening. They are usually well traveled and most are very nice and friendly. 
 

 I enjoy talking to newbie cruisers too and seeing their excitement. 
 

If they do make the discovery class I’m hoping for more storage then Oasis and bigger ships.  The older ships have great storage.  Take Radiance and Voyager class for instance.  Even her inside cabins have lots of storage.  Since these ships may be used for longer cruises I’m hoping they are designed with that in mind. If we go for more then a week I have trouble storing all our “stuff” in a regular cabin on Oasis or Quantum class. When they went to divided closets it got even worse. On the older ships I can put everything away easily, out of sight.

21 hours ago, island lady said:

I actually get a kick out of all the hitchhiker birds that hang out in the lush gardens of Central park on the Oasis class ships.  Apparently they fly in on one port and out the other?  Stowaways for sure.  

 

Then again...a lot of "bird song" is piped in also.  😉 

Those bird sounds change to crickets at 7 p.m. Maybe they should have relocated our balcony crickets to Central Park. 

We had 2 dozen crickets on our last balcony on Brilliance. We put up with it until one showed up in our bed.  It apparently snuck in when we were going in and out.  We got our steward involved after that. They did not relocate them and they met their end.  
 

19 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I don't even know what that dress code means.🤷‍♂️

I’d have to google it too.  

Royal is a family cruise line and that’s not going to change.  However I do wish they’d build a smaller class of ships with longer and better itineraries. We really like the Royal product and would like to stay with them but other cruise lines are getting our interest due to itineraries.  We still cruise the Caribbean some but really want to see more of the world. The big ships just don’t interest us for more than a one time thing. And we certainly aren’t flying across the country for a 3/4 night cruise. Right now they seem to targeting families in Florida vs. Disney. 

I believe you’re referring to the cruiser who took a portable washing machine on board that was confiscated. It was large and is something you plug in.  

6 minutes ago, wolfcathorse said:

I was going to get one of those collapsible washing tubs (as seen on FB or Temu) but I thought someone recently complained they were called to the naughty room for the washing tub they had in their suitcase. Not quite clear on if it was confiscated or not.

They don’t care about a collapsible wash basin.

On 4/28/2024 at 8:18 AM, hazeleyez3 said:

I know the schedules won’t be released until around October, but do people think RCCL will go back to British Isles in 2026?  We decided to do a land trip this year, and I don’t see any British Isles next year.  
 

Celebrity isn’t an option.  We will be traveling with my father and the single supplement on that cruise line is ridiculous.  The same cabin for him is almost $4,000 more for him than it would be for us.  A single supplement is one thing, that high of one is another.
 

We are now leaning towards an Asian cruise next year, and putting off British Isles until 2026.  If RCCL doesn’t have itineraries we will switch to Princess.

 Hoping for a British Isles in 2026. And if Royal won’t do one we’ll be switching to another line too.  I’d do another Panama Canal cruise too so will keep watching for that. 

On 4/29/2024 at 8:27 PM, xpcdoojk said:

Yes, it is a challenge.  I am very much a person to travel.  Confinements are limitations. That is hard, and always an obstacle,

 

Our parents are gone now and we are recently retired so our travel has opened up.  We do have a fur baby.  Fortunately we have daughters who really like her and they will keep her.  We were gone 2 months to Australia and NZ and the dog did fine.  This fall we’ll be gone 36 days again but I know she’ll be well cared for. 
 

Harder for us is being available for the grands and being involved in their lives.  We try to plan so we can be home for graduations, ballet recitals, band competitions. That does limit when and how long. We don’t want to miss too much!
 

Have a great cruise!  Our first TA is next spring.

53 minutes ago, sadiwest said:

Was it very scenic? I feel like the ohotos aren't helping.  

The area is not what I’d call scenic.  Stay by the pool or go to a beach if that’s what you want.

Our first time there we took a shore excursion that got us around town, a museum and a rum factory.  We just wanted to see the area.

At the port, there is a pool, shops, bars with no need to leave to leave.

9 hours ago, sgmn said:

Iwith smaller ships Royal Caribbean can offer more interesting itineraries 

 We want longer, more interesting itineraries! 

We were on Brilliance 46 nights in a row this year. B3B.  Each cruise I sent out underwear, socks, work out clothes in stuffed wash and fold bags.  One nightgown came back a little different color, otherwise no issues. 
 

We use the collapsible bucket method, use the body wash in the shower, soak, rinse twice, roll in pool towels and hang to dry from magnets on the ceiling. I find it easier to do every 5 days or so rather then let it build up. It’s bit of an aerobic work out. 
 

 We do not pack light and always check bags. 

I do wish Royal had self laundry. I air dry most of our clothes so I don’t send them out in the regular laundry, just use wash and fold for the stuff we don’t care about. 

27 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

They do suggest packing light and some of the hotels actually have washers and dryers where you are allowed to use and wash your own clothes.

 

Some of the hotels also might not have elevators or real good air conditioners systems........Is this a common thing for some of the hotels in Europe to not have elevators. I guess not all hotels there have AC either? Is this a common thing there?

We did a 14 night Grand European with Viking from Budapest to Amsterdam.  It was wonderful by the way.  
 

Most places in Europe do not have A/C at the places you tour or restaurants or shops. We were always so glad to get back to the boat to cool down.  Chain hotels have A/C but some smaller ones do not.  If you’re climbing stairs in a hotel I’d say you won’t have air. We were there during an unusual heat wave in June. Several days it was miserable hot with no relief until we got back to the boat. They don’t even run the busses A/C until they are in motion. It was in the 90’s with no A/C. No wonder the Europeans go to the beaches in August! 
 

I’m not trying to discourage you but it is different.  We’re looking at France and Switzerland next.  I might do Switzerland in the summer but not France.  I’d choose May or September instead for France. Better rain then heat for us.