joand452

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us!  This makes me even more excited to cruise on Oasis this summer with my first-time cruiser daughters!!

Looking forward to joining you on Wonder -- virtually, of course.  We'll be getting ready for our "real" cruises on Apex and Harmony!!

Joan

1 hour ago, SG65CB said:

Cozumel snorkeling trip was canceled today. They said the port was closed due to sea conditions. We ended up at Paradise Beach instead. 

Paradise Beach has been our favorite so far, although we've been only once.  Maybe it was the free drinks our waiter got us?  We go back to Cozumel in April; maybe we'll go there again.

Did you go to Coco Cay last week?  I can't remember!  But...I'm sure you can!!

1 hour ago, SRF said:

 

If you got your MGM Gold based on your D status, you cannot use that it get perks back on RCI.  They stopped that a while ago.

 

If you earned your MGM Gold status by playing or status match from another program (Hyatt), you can use your MGM Gold for RCI perks.

Thank you.  I understand now.  

We’re D on Royal, so a few years ago went to the new MGM National Harbor (MD), and I registered my Gold MLife card. We’re not big gamblers, but we used our MLife card to get $125.00 in OBC for our Dec. 2018 Celebrity cruise. We booked another cruise on Celebrity Apex, followed the next day by a cruise on Harmony for Spring 2021. I called about a year ago to get OBC on one of the cruises, and I couldn’t get it. Of course, we had to lift and shift those cruises to this year. Now we just have to worry about Covid testing. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻We’ll be self-isolating for the month before the cruise. 
 

Has this benefit gone away?  If not, what do I need to do to get it back?  TIA. 

Hope it’s not a misdirected piece of luggage!  On Anthem in November, my husband happen to be in the hallway and found our missing piece in front of someone else’s cabin—far way from our cabin. I’m sure our steward would have found it eventually.  And we were glad it wasn’t still sitting on the pier in NJ!

Thank you for taking us along on another fun cruise!  Will you do another live thread from Harmony?  We’ll be on her for the first time in April.  
 

Thanks again!

Is Giovanni’s Wine Bar where Vintages is on other Quantum-class ships?  I’m guessing that Giovanni’s Kitchen is next door, where Jamie’s Italian is on Anthem. On the way to Two70°?  

The “cruising ducks” are big over on Carnival. I tried it—once—on an Anthem cruise in 2019. They were fun to put together, but not fun to hide. I believe the QR code takes you to the FB page for posting your photo. 
 

I think the only ones making money off this are Amazon (where I purchased my dozen ducks) and Office Depot—my vendor for printer ink and card stock!

I can’t figure how to post a photo, so @BennyBrun do you remember where the shop in St. Thomas was that had local artwork and jewelry?  There were dark blue shutters as doors. Looked to be down a cobblestone alley. Haven’t been to STT in years, and I like to buy local artwork and/or jewelry. Thanks!

First-time follower and definitely enjoying!!  We're taking our second Celebrity cruise in just 74 days (but who's counting?) on Apex.  Our first was on Equinox in late 2018.  We normally sail on Royal and had decided to branch out.  We're also sailing in an SV cabin -- with a regular balcony.  Doesn't seem like we'd be fans of the IV.  Hoping we can snag a suite closer to sail date.  

We're also staying at that same Hyatt Place beginning two days before the cruise.  Enjoyed the photos, although we tend to stay at one when we visit family in RI.  Glad to know we'll be in a good area.  We will have to find a place for our Covid test, however.  I'm sure there will be Walgreens and CVS around.  I'll be making appointments about a week before.  We're taking the AutoTrain down, since after Apex we'll be driving to Port Canaveral to board Harmony of the Seas the next day (also staying in another Hyatt Place).

Looking forward to enjoying more of your cruise!!

Thank you for the live thread.  We'll be on Apex in 75 days!!  Fingers crossed we test negative!  

Looking forward to more detail and photos!!

33 minutes ago, TwinMamainMN said:

I haven't been on North Star yet, but from the photos I see online, it appears the floor is solid, and some of the lower sides of the pod is not glass either. Maybe try to do it in port, as the pod only goes up and down then, not over the side of the ship like it does on sea days? (I got that info from twangster on CC, and he's done it several times.)

You can see a little bit of the floor in this picture, taken while in port in Bermuda in April 2019. It’s definitely solid. I have more pictures from our Quantum sailing in 2014, but there were just to many people in them to post. We sailed on Anthem this past November (2021), but didn’t get a chance to ride it. It’s very smooth, going up, down and side to side. Stand in the center until you feel comfortable, then move to the windows. 
 

It really is a unique experience. 

Thank you for being brave and flying from NJ to FL in January!  Appreciate you taking one for the team!  We’re from RI, living in Virginia for over 40 years, and don’t leave the house in January and February. Can’t believe we have cruised from FL in early December.  And we’ve been to Disney World many times in early to mid December.  Now we’re old, retired, and just stay home!  We tend to cruise in March or April. We do have a cruise on Oasis out of NJ in July. We’ll drive up there the day before.  Haven’t been on Oasis since 2015. 
 

Looking forward to following along!

Bon Voyage, John and LaLa!!  Looking forward to photos and details.

FWIW, we've sailed on both Quantum (1x) and Anthem (3x) out of NJ.  It's more convenient for us to drive the 4 hours. than deal with flying (especially these days).  After our last Anthem cruise this past November, we're definitely ready for something different.  Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful ship (love Two70ºand the Solarium) and service was great.  Looking forward to Harmoney (April) and then back to Oasis (July).  Do love that class!  Would love to sail on Odyssey in the future.  So many cruises/ships, so little time and money!!

Just now, Honolulu Blue said:

 

You can test the day before and have your test results accepted.  You can even test the same day and as long as you have those test results in hand, they're good with it.

Thank you so much!  Now just to find somewhere to get the tests on the way to Port Canaveral.

Hope this means we'll be able to get tested aboard Apex, which arrives back in Ft. Lauderdale on a Saturday.  That day we head to Port Canaveral, where we board Harmony of the Seas

on Sunday.

Will Royal Caribbean Group accept tests results from one day before the cruise?  Or must it be two days?  We plan on getting tested somewhere in FLL on the Thursday before our Saturday cruise.

Of course, last fall we were hoping there would be no required testing; now we're just hoping Omicron will be gone in April.

We had Leigh on one of his last Royal cruises (Explorer of the Seas 2012).  We thought he was great fun; we've had only one good CD on Royal since then (Abe Hughes) and now he's shoreside.  Is his buddy Frank a CD as well?  They made quite a pair on Explorer. 

In case anyone is interested, I'm over here trolling for threads about the Mardi Gras.  DH really wants to sail on her.  We last did Vista in 2017.

Thank you so much, Benny, for the awesome review and photos!  And to SNJ, too, for chiming in with his insights -- it's great to have so much info from one cruise.  Only 90 days until our turn on the beautiful Apex!

I guess we'll need to test prior to the cruise(s.  We go on Harmony of the Seas the day after we leave Apex).  Any suggestions where we should go in FLL?  We'll be arriving on the Thursday before sailing on Saturday.  We'll be driving down from Sanford, so can stop anywhere on the way down, but are staying in FLL the next few days.  Months ago I had called X to ask about something, so I asked about getting a test on that Thursday before our cruise on Royal.  Of course, I was told yes, but really doubting it now.  I'm guessing the best bet will be ordering the proctored tests to arrive before we leave.  Any suggestions?

Thank you, again, for letting us cruise with you!

Happy to read that Lawrence of Antigua is still operating his excursion business. We used him in 2010.  I just threw away his business card since it had been such a long time since we'd been there.  

8 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Reservations for Windjammer, well that is a HUGE hassle. Damn !! That would be final straw for me.

We sailed over Thanksgiving week, and while it was reservations required in the WJ on the Compass, we never had to make any reservations at all.

We had about 2900 that week, including about 800 children!!  We never had a problem finding a table in WJ.

Thanks to both you and PiperHoliday for doing Live From threads.  Our last cruise pre-covid was April-May 2019 to Bermuda on Athem, and in 2016 did a 12-day cruise (that was a great length), also on Anthem.  Our cruises in 2020 and 2021 were both cancelled.  Right before Thanksgiving week, we started talking about cruising again (we do have three cruises booked for 2022) and at the last minute (ten days is very last minute for us) booked Anthem for Thanksgiving week.  It was great to be on a ship again -- unfortunately too windy to get much time on our balcony and we couldn't stop at Port Canaveral as planned (again too windy).  We no longer get off the ship in Nassau, but finally made it to Perfect Day at Coco Cay!  We went to all shows and sat in Two70º a lot, reading.  It was so relaxing!

Hoping the same for you!!  

Finally caught up!  We're scheduled for Apex in April, followed by Harmony of the Seas.  Can't wait!

A number of people from our roll call have cancelled for Covid reasons, but we're trying to be positive and hope that things change for the better by April.  Less people on the ship, but you're photos may make the reservations climb!!

Looking forward to more!

5 hours ago, deli cruiser said:

Just off Oasis Dec 5-12 and CD is Mike Whitte after being off for 22 months 

Hope he's CD on Oasis in July 2022.  No offense to Dennis, but after having him as CD for the second time, most recently in April 2019 on Anthem, we're ready for someone new.

10 hours ago, bigmoose7563 said:

Right there with you! Got hooked on this on Mariner in Sept

I had a Caribbean Mule for the first time on Anthem -- delish!  That and the Goombay Smash.

We were there for the very first time on Thanksgiving, a couple of weeks ago.  It was finally sunny, the air temp was probably in the 70s.  We only made it has far as the Oasis pool -- that water was very cold, but once we took the plunge, it wasn't too bad.  

We grew up in RI and as teenagers always went into the ocean on Memorial Day.  You go in slowly, once ankles are frozen, move up to knees and so on.  It's a whole system... 😉