3CatsInMA

3 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

These time changes are rough.  As an early riser, when I travel to Europe by air I struggle with jet-lag and thought this one hour per day would be better.   Not sure about the one hour per day, but as of today, we're on Ponta Delgada time, which we don't reach until Sunday which I think is fantastic.  I think we'll have two more time changes between Ponta Delgada and Rome.  I'm hoing those are not as rough as the past four time changes.   

 

I think part of my problem is the amount of food and alcohol that I've been consuming. 🤣 All, kidding aside, I've stopped my daily "drink breakeven analysis".    Way too much time thinking about breaking even and the drink package is a sunk cost at this point.   The whole point I think was to enjoy what we wanted without worrying about it.  I don't drink a lot at home, so I will probably ease up on the alcohol and food.  That's probably more why I'm feeling the way I am feeling rather than the time changes, that I'd like to blame.   All that being said, we have lunch at Giovanni's today and will try to have some restraint.   But we did cancel two lunch reservations to Chops.  

It's nice that you're getting a little break from the daily time changes.  Last year our first stop was Malaga and we lost an hour each of the first six nights.  I noticed on day four that the ship felt very empty as I made my way down to get my morning coffee, as that's when it really seemed to hit people. 

2 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

@3CatsInMA Thank you so much!  This is awesome.  I had no idea that you could check out that many towels.  We have some laundry hanging up now, but our next load we'll definitely get some towels.   Thanks again!

 

 

No problem!

I'm enjoying following along with you.  It's taking me back to a year ago!

Looking forward to being on Odyssey again later this year out of Bayonne in December, and the westbound TA in October of '25.

26 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

I had the pizza last night, and agree with you, really thought that the pizza would be better than Sorrentos.  Maybe only marginally better.  Also agree that the desserts were great.  

 

 

@3CatsInMA Thanks for the tip.  How do we get a bunch of pool towels?  We haven't be up to the pool and thought it was a check out system.  Are you able to check out a bunch of towels?  Thanks again. 

 

 

Yep, you need to check them out. I think I was getting 6 or 7 at a time and returning them soaking wet an hour later. Lol

19 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

Received the laundry offer today when we came back from lunch.   I might be able to get past the 1 million degree Fahrenheit wash and dry, but not sure if I can get past the washing laundry in the same load as other peoples stuff.    We have a co-op in NYC and there is communal laundry, but not laundry at the same time as others.   But not throwing the offer away, because I might get desperate for laundered clothing at some point.  The bag is like I expected from watching videos online.  We're going to hand wash in the sink for now.  

 

 

 

Hand washing works out pretty well. We brought some oversized zip lock bags to to laundry during our 26 night b2b.  It saved time being able to do more clothes at once.

Pro tip:  get a bunch of pool towels to roll the wet laundry in before hanging, to speed drying time.

21 hours ago, Bullet100 said:

Let me start by saying we've been on approximately 35 cruises. Most of them have been Azamara,NCL,Royal Caribbean, Celebrity with one MSC included. The food quality and selection on RCL borders on par with MSC which is pretty bad. The prime rib was fatty and as tough as shoe leather. The NY strip steak that the gentleman next to us looked like a door stop and he stated it was uneditable. There is no comparison to NCL whatsoever. We tried Chops hoping for a better steak experience but it was just a bit better. Definitely not with the 190 up charge. In the future it will be NCL,Azamara and Oceania only.Bye Bye RCL !

There's nothing worse than a steak you can't edit. 😠

24 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Would have loved to do the Holy Lands cruise, sounds fantastic.  I think lots of people are doing B2B to the Greek Islands. 

Actually for accuracy I should say that our Holy Land trip was altered at the last minute due to unrest.  Our overnight in Ashdod was cancelled, and an overnight in Haifa was planned instead.  Haifa was originally one day.  BUT...after just a few hours in Haifa, we departed before the immigration process was complete.  Very disappointing!  Santorini was added to the itinerary at that point.

It was still an amazing trip!

Following!

We were on this TA last April, b2b with the Holy Land and really loved it.

Graig Murphy?  That's the comedian performing day 8, 10 pm, in the theater on the current sailing. 🤷‍♂️

Surround the steamer with rum runners.

You're welcome.

According to a certain site called Cruise Critic, pier runners actually can be entertaining to watch. 🙂

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/5-hilarious-cruise-pier-runners?lid=42u7ac8979k2&crm_source=58226&crm_pos=us&crm_cid=001a3948-ac9f-4bdd-a47a-d17981aa6152&crm_rid=3sS5eIgB4ZnXyT5mGz7n&crm_cname=04.07.24 US Weekender - Other- 5 Hilarious Cruise Pier Runners

6 hours ago, bucfan2 said:

Nicely done - Was about to say this thread is a bit benign and perhaps we should move on to a tipping discussion, but you may have saved the day!

I can't believe it took so long!🤣

This has been a very entertaining thread, for so many reasons! 🤣

I was hoping for video. 🙂

If there is a fee, rest assured it is to enhance your experience.

Wow. You booked a trip on Six Flags Of The Seas and were surprised that there were tons of kids.

Bless your heart.

Fruit is free in the Windjammer. 

13 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Why "without the cape"?  😉 

My cape is still at the cleaners.  I hope my ascot will suffice. 

6 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

Now rather than the dress code police making their inane "if you wanna wear shorts, go eat in the Windjammer" argument, the rest of us can just say "if you wanna dress up, go hit the Empire Supper Club."

I'm glad they finally have a place of their own!

3 hours ago, little britain said:

Just happy to see skimmed milk! 🥛 

How do you know it really is? 😁

8 hours ago, island lady said:

Medical is on deck one.  

It moved from deck two?

I love a good tipping contest. 🤣

I've seen many birds on many ships, but I don't recall seeing a starling.

16 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Just got off 3 weeks on Serenade. Was a Pinnacle on at least 2 of my 4 legs and he wore his Badge everyday but would bother the WJ Head's, dragging them over to station to show something they should be aware of or telling them how things should be. Was in there bothering them on at least 8-9 Days just that I was there to see it.

With the Badge comes great responsibility. 

2 hours ago, CruiseMrB said:

I'm a NOVID (No known COVID to date) and will be sailing in January. We will get the latest booster and wear N95 mask in all interior locations outside of our cabin, except to eat. That's the drill these days for us until further notice. Plus lots of hand washing and sanitizer, if the dispensers even work.

 

We live in Florida, so the idea that we are ever going to get accurate timely information on anything is out of the question. So we act accordingly.

Please elaborate on the bolded text.