cruisingxpert

(The croissant may have been dethroned. Sitting in a broth of butter and keeping ever so warm were a chaffing dish full of gooey sticky buns this morning. As though they should have worn their chest waders after being baked, these things were soaked with the concoction half way up via capillary action. Tender, moist, melt in your mouth. The outside edges were just as soft as the “filet” in the center.

We are now on a daily watch for the sticky buns in the Terrace Café.)

 

 

 

Sticky buns are made every other day..

Jancruz1

 

That's good to know and probably a good thing:)

 

CJ

(The croissant may have been dethroned. Sitting in a broth of butter and keeping ever so warm were a chaffing dish full of gooey sticky buns this morning. As though they should have worn their chest waders after being baked, these things were soaked with the concoction half way up via capillary action. Tender, moist, melt in your mouth. The outside edges were just as soft as the “filet” in the center.

We are now on a daily watch for the sticky buns in the Terrace Café.)

I didn't find the sticky buns til the last day. I'll be on a search first morning onboard. They were wonderful.

CJ

Happy Birthday, Lisa

(duplicate post)

 

PS. The ship/MTN has blocked shutterfly access :/ I can only post pictures and can't even caption them for now. Bummer.

Sending a picture from Tapatalk is really easy and I'm not a techie. You can download the app for free and I'm sure the tech guy or gal onboard can show you how easy it is.

Love the thread. You paint with words.

CJ

All this talk about Coast Guard and CDC inspections is making me nervous. We are due to end our Riviera cruise on Feb. 12th. Supposedly, arrival time in Miami is 6AM. We purchased non-refundable plane tickets for a domestic flight home leaving at 10:15 AM. Are you saying we may not even be off the ship by then?

I think most Inspections are done prior to ship leaving port. They would probably be trying to shove you off as fast as possible if they were going to have an Inspection before departure.

Cj

and they were undergoing an inspection. The had everyone sit down in a nice airconditioned room and they had little sandwiches and water and tea and coffee. We didn't come first thing to board..probably about two hours after boarding was to start. We waited in that room close to another two hours. You can never tell how long the inspection will take.

Thank you Caroldoll. Snacks and tea or coffee would be a nice touch:)

Trust me, we arrived early at Terminal J and stood outside in very long lines whilst the Coast Guard did it's inspection. It was a madhouse. We were booked in an Oceania Suite and even as there are designated lines once in the terminal for the different cabin categories we still stood in line for sometime. We did get onboard by 1pm but my Mom did not get onboard until a little after 3pm. I would say we were in the outside line for well over an hour. This was not good for a lot of people who were mobility impaired (many) as there were no chairs provided for them nor any help from "O" staff. I must say this was our one and only complaint with "O" boarding in MIA. (I won't even get going on RIO:eek:)

Thank you DOJO466. I would hate to arrive at 3pm and find everyone was onboard but on the other hand, I don't want to stand in line outside for over an hour. I'm hoping that if I arrive around 1pm, I won't have to stand outside and won't be waiting forever to Board. Note to me - bring a good book.

Your remarks bring up another question. When did they take your bags from you? One of the Roll Call has been told by their TA that they won't even take your bags before 3pm.

CJ

In your final docs it will have the boarding time ...

It will depend on sailing time as you MUST be onboard 90 min prior to sailaway

 

We had a CDC inspection & did not get off utill after 9am & still in line for a taxi at 11 so people showing up early were just blocking things up ..they were not allowed in the building so piled up outside the doors

I would go after 1pm for sure

 

JMO

 

Lyn

Our final documents say 12Noon because we are in a PH category but that seems like it isn't going to happen.

CJ

Has anyone gone through this process? The message from Oceania is that anyone already in Miami on day of departure shouldn't show up before 3pm.

One person mentioned on our Roll Call that they had gone through that process and had been onboard by 1:30pm

Another person has been told by their TA that they won't even take their bags before 3 pm.

Anyone with tips about their experience of a Coast Guard inspection before boarding in Miami would be greatly appreciated.

CJ

(Quote) 4. Seeing how well the engineering design of the ship has held up after almost 2 years at sea. I was thrilled with how "tight" everything seemed on the new Marina. I'll be listening for creeks, groans, and rubs.

(Quote)

Be interesting to hear whether you hear the shuddering noise we had in a PH3 near the front of ship. If I was just nodding off, it would jar me awake. Never heard that kind of sound on other ships. We're going for the PH3 aft on Deck 7 this time to see if it is different

I think you will have a hard time dragging DW back from a PH.

Bon Voyage

CJ

Bumping this review up so more people will see what a great review you did. I want you to be my tour guide on my cruises lol.

CJ

"We will also be attempting a first: getting our DW's to try the Terrace as opposed to going to the MDR. Something about "we like to be served" keeps rolling over the pouting lips."

I know what you mean. My travelling partner has always thought of buffets like cafeteria food. She likes to be served too. Not sure why we went to the Terrace one night but we were so impressed, we ate there 4 nights out of the 10.

There was an item on the menu one night called 72 hr braised shortrib, which my friend would say is "ugh" stew. We would never have tried it if it had been just words on the menu. It looked like a steak and was medium rare and it melted in your mouth. If you see it, you should try it - we both thought it was just about the best thing we ate on the cruise. That includes the food we had in LaReserve which was wonderful and well worth the price imho.

CJ

Hi "sldispatcher"

I've subscribed to this thread. I'm on the Dec 2nd cruise and can't wait to hear what you have to say. Read comments here that you are a brilliant writer.

CJ

Another amazing review. You always make me feel that I'm right there travelling with you. Can't wait to see the rest.

CJ

...a pleasure. ;)

I'll second alexandra cruiser, Ron. Your pictures are as wonderful as you.

I keep copy and pasting your review onto our Dec 2nd Roll Call every time someone new joins and says it is their first cruise.

Just wish you were coming on this cruise too.

Catherine

Thanks Ron. The hallway looks rather narrow too. Is that the case or optical illusion? On the other thread you mentioned your next July/August cruise. Have you booked it again?

Catherine

Thanks... too bad about that.

 

(Catherine wouldn't let me play with the curtains) :p

But I would have been happy to let you photoshop 20lbs off me lol:eek:. I'm going on a diet now.

Great pics though. Thanks

Wonderful pictures, Ron. You're making it so easy for me- I'll be sending this thread to my friends to show what the ship was like. Wonderful to have all the work done for me lol.

p.s. If you want to post the pictures you took in our cabin to show what the cabin looks like with the beds made up as twins, feel free. I know I've seen some questions about bed configuration on this Board.

Catherine

Beautiful pictures.

We just bought the same camera today as I mentioned in a different post. Would like to ask you regarding the Wi Fi, does it only work with a computor or does it work with an iPad? Thanks.

Not Ron but I was on the same cruise. The ship Internet works on Ipads and Smartphones as well. As other people have mentioned, the service is spotty and slow.

Not sure now if that was your question now that I see Rons' answer.

I love you guys! You have the answer to EVERYTHING!

I second his vote. Everytime I check in, I look to the right to see if Jim and Stan have posted something. You're unbelievable - right after FDR ofcourse! lol

CJ

for your kind words - we will have a fantastic cruise - I had so wanted the upgrade for my DH more than myself. I had tried several days ago to get an upsell - but NO they wouldn't offer one to my TA. We thought are chances for an upgrade were good being the ship is WIDE open. I know there is a reason for everything just wasn't meant to be this time around. We did get a SY guarantee and that is what we were assigned 6101 - so nice mid ship cabin.

Have a wonderful day - thanks again

Hugger,

My TA, yesterday, said they were still allowing an upsell but they were still sticking with $499 pp price. If you are willing to pay that much, I would call your TA and get her/him to try to see what they can do.

Catherine