irishgal432

11 hours ago, Teeara said:

 

Today is our first sea day.  We had a lot of motion on the ocean overnight and today.

 

 

We’ve been doing approximately 21 knots since we need to get to Cartagena on time.  Today we are going around the tip of Cuba.

 

 

After breakfast we went hunting for a quiet pace to read and found this lovely spot in the back of the Colony Club that looks out on the ship’s wake.

 

 

After lunch it was time for the enrichment lecture on the building of the Panama Canal.

 

 

The Stockhams will be doing many more lectures during this cruise.

 

 

Here is today’s Cruise Compass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had our first specialty dining at Giovanni’s tonight.  We both ordered the calamari for our appetizers, then Pam had the Branzino and I had the Garlic Shrimp.  We finished it off with Tiramisus.

 

 

 

And here’s the MDR menu for Day 2.

 

Let me know if you want to see some food porn 😉😁😮. I haven’t been taking any pictures but I can.

 

And we’re ending our day in the Centrum listening to the house band after watching the evening show in the theater (Piano Man).

 

 

 

See you tomorrow for Day 3 and our second sea day.

I met the Stockholms on an Alaska cruise.  They are very interesting people.  If  you get a chance strike up a conversation with them.

Yes you can drop off luggage.  There will be ifly an northstar normal sessions available when you first board.  The ones available in the planner are the extended sessions or during sea days.  The only thing the key gets you as far as acitivies is bumper cars session, rock climbing session and flowrider session.

You could bring rose petals and such and ask your room attendant to decorate while you are out.  keep it simple with rose petals and maybe a lovve towel animal.  Include a big tip.

7 hours ago, Jcol5786 said:

Hello,

Looking forward to doing this cruise. This is our first cruise out  of Vancouver. I have a question about checkin time. On our Booking Confirmation document from Royal it states that checkin time is between 12:15 pm - 4:15 pm with departure set for 5:45 pm. However when the checkin times opened up on the app last week we got the earliest time available which was 10:00 am. We are staying at the Pan Pacific so we can easily make either time. Just wondering which time is the correct one and what time we should head down to the terminal? If we go for 10 and it's actually 12:15 I guess we will be waiting around for 2 hours which I'd rather not do.  Any info will be appreciated.

As a suggestion, leave your bags at the pan pacific and they will send them to the ship.  Make sure you attach your luggage tags.  Also depending on how many ships are in port customs can be a nightmare so either do10 am or later in the afternoon.  It took us over an hour in line to get through when we went at noon.

For the first time in a long time an actual deal. 

Oasis of the Seas GTY Oceanview Balcony 1470 for 2 people with Pinnacle Discount. April 7th.

1402 on April14th.

The adults only pool on Icon is not like a quiet solarium.  It is a loud party vibe.  

With the 3/4 night sailings the genies have double the communication work load.  Normal 7 day sailings it is about a month out, but with the new 3/4 sailings it may be less than that.  You can reach out via facebook or twitter .  they are normally very responsive.

15 hours ago, Blue Eyed Belfast Belle said:

I asked Cruise Director Mitch about why not very many longer cruises and this is the response I just got back...

So the correct answer should be:  We have decided to target families, first time cruisers and the younger demographics market that cannot take long vacations.  If you are interested in longer trips visit our sister brand Celebrity.  😝

Thank you.  they keep changing it periodically.

@Ourusualbeach  Do you know where the pool towel station is located?

@Ourusualbeach  Do you know if he rooms are going to be open right away.  The app has everything like show reservattions, zoom help all starting at 10:30.  Thinking they are having an early embarkation since no guests will be on board.

9 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

 

  Wondering if the steak it is included with Star Class?

I think it is near the Pearl.

Ken you need to try the 1400 signature drink and let me know how many we can drink?

3 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

 

 

 

Is it Top 30 Pinns to access CK and Suite deck? Thanks!

I just got my Pinnacle email and it says as a benefit access to Crown Lounge, so my guess only top 30 for at least CK.

10 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Looks like there will be 4500 on thec3 dsy sailing and only 5500 on the inaugural.  I'm very happy with those numbers. 

Can you find out the magic number of Pinnacles onboard for the Inaugural? We have a few bets going.

11 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Our flight was delayed by about 40 minutes today but we are here.  Low 70's in Miami but it is most certainly a lot better than dealing with the -10 but feels like -20 back home.  

 

Since Vikki could not take time off (downside to being a teacher), I brought along my sister for the 3 day preview sailing and then my son will join me for the inaugural.

 

Our flight wasn't getting in until late afternoon so I booked a new hotel by the Airport.  Tru by Hilton.  Clean and comfortable with a bar on deck 10 (more time on ships than in hotels foes that to you) great views of the airport.

 

Went to a Cuban restaurant that was a $15 Uber away called Versailles.  Will be taking Toby there on Fridsy between cruises.  Excellent food and very reasonable prices.  

I stayed at the Radison Red last week since we had a late flight in and up early.  Very hip hotel but new, clean and didnt have the Florida hotel room smell.

We had a Greece explorer cruise that we had MTD or and they changed it to early dining without notice.

I just asked this question to the MDR MTD host on my last cruise.  They said the max they like to do is 10.  You could link the reservations to be only 6 and 7 people and it would work.

53 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

 

I'll try to remember to grab pictures of the spread for lunch on day 1.  They go all out.  I feel bad for the people that a;ways avoid the WJ

Please do.bill is adamant he is not going to the WJ, but I dont want to miss out on the good stuff.  May have to encourage him with your pictures.   I saw the compass on Mitch M fb page and it did not look like the flowrider was operating on these first cruises.  Hopw Imissed it

We will be there!  So exciting!

22 minutes ago, SUESEABE said:

So are you saying if it's a tag that the baggage handlers put on then you get it quicker?

No later. My theory  Color coded, Black and White printed, Port baggage handlers.

I have came to the same conclusion.  This is also true for people who don't print them out and have baggage handlers do them.

I wonder if you can use your 25.00 pinnacle benefit there?

2 hours ago, JaycenA said:

Straight to the top, eh?  Ha, thanks.

 

Without getting into everything - traced the issue to a cancelled spa booking.  It started adding the cost onto the bill, and then doubling it the first of every month since.  I pulled all the dates of my payments, CC back-ups and confirmation emails from RC (just to make sure I wasn't mistaken).  

For whatever reason, the cancelled spa cost has been subtracted from my initial deposit (!) weird, right?  But again, have the CC records & RC emails / confirmations showing we paid the original, full amount.  

 

I've definitely grown most frustrated with call center this week - they're clearly just reading what the system says, and not taking a look at what's happening.  This despite the fact they can access the confirmation payments and see it doesn't add up.

Email Micheal Bayley or reach out in twitter.  They are very experience Customer service agents that can get things resolved quickly.

The answer is No even or Star Class.