cyntil8ing

Ever heard of Latin America? Here’s another surprise for you — Latinos don’t speak Latin. 😀 The class sounds interesting. My son would love it, both the food and the cooking.

Ha! Yes, we have last name jokes too. Our’s is Lord! There are good comedians that can have us all laughing together, but there are also comedians that try to make us laughable. It’s a line some can walk and some can’t. Fortunately and unfortunately, we have run into both.

Ugh. This was inexcusable. We too are a family where one child does not look like the rest of us. We had an issue earlier this year, our first ever with embarkation in 20+ cruises, over a dozen on Celebrity. We had mom and dad in one room, and son and daughter in another next door, all within guidelines. Our daughter could not make it, so son was going to be alone in the room. Not sure why this led the agent to ask if he was adopted, but she did. I did not answer, instead asking why she asked. She gave me some story about him being under 18 and alone in the room. I asked again why she needed this information and again she didn’t answer, so I turned and walked toward the ship (we had completed the check-in and had our passports back in hand). I stopped in front of the desk where they send you if there are issues and asked if there was a problem with our documents. She ran up and started to explain that he couldn’t be in the room alone. They said that of course he could as he was next door and sent us on our way. When that child was about 8, he was asked by Customs when disembarking to identify who we were to him. He was very confused and concerned and didn’t know how to answer. Finally, the customs agent asked,”who is this?” and pointed to me. Son smiled and said “mom!” and we we’re on our way. I was shaky about the interaction for days. I do not carry adoption paperwork because it is not required. The other area we run into issues are comedy shows. Comedians love to ask questions and we have generally learned how to get them to move on without making anyone uncomfortable, but we never sit in the first few rows.

We had snack mix on Apex last week. It did not look like the mix above, but was like small pieces of sesame seeded flatbread. It was not bad!

Hi Abby. I am not sure how I missed this while it was ongoing, but thanks for the trip down memory lane this morning. I have yet to pull photos from all the cameras, but I don’t think we ever took a photo of the four of us. Too bad! We enjoyed your company and wish you well on your many, many, many, many upcoming cruises!

We have booked private excursions many times and continue to do so. Only once have we missed one and not received a full refund. Many years ago we booked a snorkeling excursion in Grand Turk and the ship missed the port. We lost our $10 deposit. However, we had trip insurance and could have filed a claim for it, but I forgot once we returned home. Our credit card also includes trip cancelation insurance, so that may also be an option. Aruba is outside the typical weather-related missed ports. If you have trip insurance or used a credit card with cancellation insurance, I wouldn’t worry about it.

Only cell phone quality, but these are from my NYC sail away in September. IMG_2500.mov IMG_2503.mov IMG_2511.mov IMG_2517.mov IMG_2520.mov

We were on Harmony this summer with our 17 year old. He was absolutely welcome in the Schooner Bar and really enjoyed it multiple nights. One evening, an extended family with like ten kids of all ages showed up. The piano player told them that to hang out, there must be an adult sitting with them, not the adults in the back with the kids unattended up front. But I think that was his rule, not the bar rule. I thought it was a very good rule to have!

Not wringing hands, but we are scheduled to fly in to FLL Friday evening for a cruise from Port Everglades on Saturday. Keeping an eye on the National Weather Service page - https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?site=MFL&textField1=26.1425&textField2=-80.1395&e=0 Seems like the worst should be over by then, but with two cruises this year re-routed due to storms, it might be just my luck that there's an issue. Best wishes for the folks in South FL! It's gonna be breezy!

We've cruised with a few different agencies that give OBC. It has always arrived during the cruise, usually the third day. In one case, the OBC never showed up. The TA sent me a check a few weeks later. Also note that this type of OBC, unlike the Carnival OBC, is refundable, meaning if you don't spend it, you'll get it back.

Bon voyage Abby. See you on Apex next week! I think I mentioned that we did our first Oasis class cruise on Harmony over the summer, also in a CLS. We loved the cabin, especially as there were three of us (our teen son was along). He had his own bathroom and said the sofa bed was very comfortable. The ship felt very big and very crowded to me, 40-ish cruises and I have never before waited in a line to get into the buffet! I would definitely do it again in a suite, but unlikely in a regular cabin. Have a great time! Looking forward to meeting you next week and following your adventures this week. What are the ports? Do you have plans?

Absolutely.

Baltimore is fun too; two bridges instead of just one. I think NYC is definitely a "must do". San Juan is great too, especially since most departures are in the dark, a different experience than most. No rankings from me. They're all good!

Excited to follow along. I will also be on this itinerary on Apex in two weeks.

My troop, that I got all the way through high school, also seriously planned for a cruise, but service unit hoops we had to jump through, and eventually the pandemic quashed our plans. We ended up sending checks to the girls after graduation. Best of luck to you in your planning!

Congratulations. Your 2025 cruises aren't on Carnival. I was commenting on the differences in the programs.

Assuming the shareholder benefit program is similar to Carnival's, it is in place for one year at a time, reviewed and renewed each year when the annual shareholder report is published. This would explain the dates being updated annually, even if the program remains the same. Though unlike Carnival, it's based on booking date, not cruise date. Their benefits currently apply to all cruises sailing up to July 31, 2024. I must wait for the 2023 annual report publication to apply for credit for my August 2024 cruise. For my upcoming Celebrity cruise, I applied for the credit on Sunday evening and got a confirmation showing the credit yesterday. The updated amount does show in my cruise planner.

Oh, darn. I only got 8. Removed photo because it had too much info in it!

They're not umbrellas, but clamshell sunshades. I've never used one as we spend nearly all of our time in the water. Here's an image I googled. They're located at the back of the beach, behind all of the other chairs, if view is important to you. When we were there in August, we picked chairs that were in the shade of the two story cabanas. It was shaded for a few hours until the sun rose past them mid-morning.

The seven short and one long is the general alarm, not an instruction to abandon ship. Its primary purpose is to notify crew, who have specific things they are supposed to do when it sounds. I've been on a ship when it has sounded. It was a sea day afternoon. There was a fire in a passenger cabin a/c unit. Immediately after the alarm, we were told where the fire was and to avoid the area. We did not have to report to our muster stations. It was a little scary for a minute or two, as I was alone in the cabin and my husband was at a mixology class, but once the announcement was made all returned to normal. The mixology class didn't miss a beat.

We've been on three different cruise lines for Christmas, Carnival in 2017, Celebrity in 2019 and Royal Caribbean in 2021. Not going this year unfortunately. I love being on a ship for Christmas. We never brought along presents. We did our gift giving and breakfast traditionally, just either before or after the cruise. There was no way I wanted to lug gifts aboard. By far, craziest guest dress was on Carnival. It was not even close. There was a family of five or six all wearing the Christmas Story pink bunny suits. It was adorable. There was a couple dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus walking around taking photos and handing out candy. There were a ton of ugly sweaters, light up jewelry, hats and elf shoes. It was fun. Wear your jammies on Christmas morning. You won't be alone. And the ship will be lovely!

My kids were 4 and 6 for their first Celebrity cruise, to Bermuda in 2011. They’ve been on probably a dozen more since then, as well as others on Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I am so glad I didn’t listen to Cruise Critic posters when I decided to book a family cruise. Celebrity excels with the younger set and it was our line of choice until they were about 10 and 12. The kids clubs are smaller and not as overwhelming, with more attention for each child. There are also family activities you can all do together like bingo, talent shows and our favorite, scavenger hunts. I highly recommend it! Here are a few photos from our first two X cruises.

There was that time my son accidentally packed his shoes. He was too embarrassed to go to breakfast, but by the time we got to the airport, he was happy making a fashion statement.

I doubt we have ever had our luggage out by 10pm as we don’t go to dinner until 8:30. Usually it’s closer to midnight. Our luggage has always been picked up.

The temporary profile photo was for 24 hours. It's back to what it was before.