BobnJac

Independence of the Seas

Jacquie's really pleased as she is able to watch her soaps from UK Tv, Eastenders and Corrie. Thanks to the abilty to stream, If only we had brought our Samsung remote we may have been able to change the input to HDMI and watched episode 2 of Game of Thrones too.

4 meg down 2 up.

Lots of nice people on this ship looks like its going to be a memorable crossing.

When do you think you will dock -- we have friends boarding tomorrow.

Wow are you a member of the docking crew? [emoji33][emoji33]To have this kind of information. How do you get off the ship to dock it? Is it aboard the pilot ship maybe.[emoji61]🏽

Hope you can sneak the friends on board early for them[emoji57][emoji57]

DH and I just had our first Diamond Plus cruise, and we enjoyed being able to frequent both the DL and the CL depending on crowding and if we were meeting up with new friends. I must say however, that one of the things we liked the best about the Diamond Lounge when we were Diamond is getting to meet other people. YES, you can meet people at any of the other lounges on board. However, walking up to strangers in The Schooner Bar and asking if we could join them, when there were empty seats, is not likely to happen. In the Diamond Lounge, that would be perfectly acceptable. DH and I usually cruise alone, and we enjoy getting to meet other cruisers. Last cruise we met a lovely couple the very first night of our ten night cruise. We then touched base with them each night thereafter in the lounge. Might not have sat with them, but at least a wave and friendly hello each night. If this had been a random couple that we met in a bar, chances are we would not have run into them again and again like we tend to in the DL and CL.

Thats the way to look at it and we concur. You do get to meet some nice fellow cruisers in the lounges whereas in the various bars can be a little irksome. By the end of the cruise its usually a sad time to say goodbye to new found friends and acquaintances. We are looking forward to our TA on the Indie starting this weekend. Homeward bound.

Yessssssss! I love it. I'll start stocking tons of cans of hairspray...you know the ladies have to get those bangs all teased up straight and stiff. :D

Wow I use ****** or ******, suppose hair sprays cheaper eh?

Interactive, hmm. Maybe you step in and press a button to go to a chosen floor and it takes you there! When you arrive it tells you that you are on the chosen floor and you have reached your destination. maybe it will tell you that the doors will open and after you have left will tell the other occupants that the doors will close. It might also contain a message on the floor stating which day of the week it is.

Have been on ships that this info has been omitted and have walked around in a complete oblivion of date or time, but isn't that one of the benefits of cruising?

No Bacon on the Scallops unfortuntely. It was on a clam shell with some yellow sause.

 

Your bacon Queen Scallops sound delicious thought

Not actually with bacon. Use the fat ridden offering that is readily available in the USA and render the fat into the pan.

Then place the scallops into the hot fat and sear on one side before flipping over. Cooking time approx 2 minutes each side, the centres should remain opaque and will be fully cooked by the time you serve.

As a garnish melt some butter in a pan and squeeze the juice of half or a whole lemon and allow to emulsify.

Spoon this sauce over your scallops and enjoy

Hey Garavar,

Scallops cooked with bacon is considered a breakfast item in my house. Especially nice if you can obtain the Queen scallops. Have six of those and a lovely cup of tea, guaranteed to give you a good nourishing start to the day and put hairs on your chest. (Ladies should avoid) and stick to cereal or Granola.

Mark -

 

Just a small update, nothing in the documents left in stateroom say anything about Lunch in Chops. All there was is this...

Hmm that looks suspiciously like Lunch although named brunch the timing is about right 11.30.

Unless breakfast at 06.00 Brunch at 11.30 followed by Lunch at 13.00 then something to look forward to around 16.00, before getting ready for dinner at 17.30. Oh what full day!

The venue seems right Chops,

The invitees seems to fall in the right category,

Suite guests dining with the senior officers.

Elementary my dear Watson.

As a Brit have no idea what this is!!!

Sounds like a rare roast beef sandwich with a fancy Teutonic name, wonder if would go well with proper English mustard (Colmans).

I guess they serve them in the Park Cafe in the afternoon or lunch time,

On the Serenade we were able to get scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream or das Cornisher stoppen floppen buppy tea.

Hello All,

 

Are there any areas where a mobility scooter shouldnt go? Is there an ettiquette that I dont know about in terms of getting seating at windjammer, where to park them when your eating etc?

Yes on the Dodge em track, the zip line or the pools and always use valet parking at the restaurants.

Seriously your father should not feel restricted at all you will find most seasoned cruisers and others will show courtesy and consideration to alternatively abled passengers and the infirm.

We never touch anything in the minibar and consider it a waste of space. On our last christmas cruise we used the contents as our in cabin christmas tree.

I thought it was obligatory to get drunk on Carnival?

Build up your cruises on Carnival and then switch to RCCI and join the exclusive Friends of Bill W club.[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji323][emoji322][emoji528]

Dont they already? I have travelled on both and D & D + are carried over to Elite and Elite+ of course Pineapple goes to Zenith.

Excellent video[emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji108]

Thanks for clarifying that point, makes sense.

It is the same reasoning behind the Who's the Captain, the Cruise Director or Concierges?

Do they go in regularly to have their bottoms scraped and barnacles removed, spruced up and have their pipework examined.

Some of the Cruise Directors seen Recently could do with a complete overhaul[emoji33][emoji33][emoji33][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

What is behind the reasoning of needing to know when a vessel is going into dry dock? Could it be you are all temporarily unemployed shipwrights, hopefully seeking employment? Or maybe its a train spotting type anorak pastime?

Merely an observation. No offence meant.

Maybe its part of the Who is the cruise director, Who is the Captain syndrome.

Who makes the best Gin and Tonic?

What a nice gesture. Im sure that the two of you will have a wonderful time and give mum a chance to experience some of the Caribbean and Mexico.

The room choice is good a little extra space, but just lacking some of the minor perks. (Gold card, bottle of water etc.) good luck with the ultimate Beverage package, if you use it to its fullest you will both be walking or staggering about oblivious to the rest of the world anyway [emoji41].

Enjoy it and tick it off mums bucket list and look forward to the next challenge. Plenty of opportunity to laze in the sun. Check out day passes at stops usually in good hotels with lunch and use of all facilities, good beaches and pools.

Heres a question? Does Royal actually have an itinerary for OoS. We booked inaugural from Dubai to China via Japan and cancelled because they were skipping Japan. So we moved the booking staying with Oos only to be informed on Saturday evening at 19:30 that the newly booked cruise was being changed. Do they know? Do they care? Beginning to wonder now, whatever happened to loyalty is it a one way street?

Good story but you left off the ending. How much ?

Dont get too excited Mark. It was $250. A wins a win.

The reason the alarms went off was because that machine had not been recharged at that point and simply ran out of money. The attendant knew the payout obviously from the reels.

I have friends that make a very good living from casinos both at sea and on land.

I consider them fun places others consider them a second home.

We accompanied one of our friends to Atlantic City one weekend they were comp'd for everything. His wife thought nothing of "dropping 60k" I was astonished.

But thats their enjoyment, so good luck to them, literally.

So can I actually walk out of the casino a winner? We will be on the Navigator in a few weeks and I'm setting aside $100 for the casino. I don't play and last few cruises didn't even walk through casino since my husband hates them but this time I'm going by myself. Thinking of slots, don't know what else to play. I'm looking for any advice and tips and yes, I'm prepared to stop and walk away:)

Our first experience was on Voyager, not being gamblers, relying on the old adage if you cant afford to lose then don't gamble, we went into the casino picked up two empty buckets, one for our pot and the other for our winnings.

We cash up $50 thats our limit to lose.

Go to a machine that states $1 to play. Place our $50 bucket handy and glance on the floor beneath the machine and there is a single dollar bill lying there.

Pick it up place it into the machine and get 2 cherries, great a win!

Put the winnings in the empty win bucket.

Place another $ in the machine press the button and all hell seems to break loose.

Have I broken the machine?No I have just emptied it out and consequently the alarms and lights were flashing. The attendant came over and escorted us to the cashier cage and paid us out. We cashed up walked out and only go back to attempt to win a t shirt not another key ring on our free pulls.

So in answer to your question yes you can win.

If you were going to a fine dining restaurant then dress accordingly. If you are on vacation and dont want to wear a suit then a shirt (tie optional) slacks, fine. Jacket (optional). Your on vacation just be presentable.headgear optional.

It is commonly believed (but not provable) that the acronym POSH dates back to the time when Britain ruled India (the Raj). In those days, young upper class British men were expected to visit India at least once but, having been brought up in a "land full of rainy skies and gales", they were not used to the tropical sun and more comfortable on the shady side of the ship. Thus they would prefer to be on the port side sailing to India (OUT of Britain) and on the starboard side sailing back to Britain (HOME). Thus Port Out Starboard Home.

Thank you for that clarification of the acronym. That of course stems from the time when that tiny island, the United Kingdom, ruled large swathes of the known world. Headed of course by a Monarch. Our present one is 90 years young this year and has ruled since 1953.

A great feat. ( Shes probably Pinnacle or Zenith on Britannia) before it was docked.

She never ate at the Captains table as she was loathe to dine with the staff it was said.

Maybe not romantic times, but something to stir the imagination.

It used to be said the sun never sets on the Commonwealth as it extended over many Continents and countries.

All well and good, except for the fact that posh is not an acronym for port out starboard home.

Did you use wikipedia as your point of reference? Where you will find its a backronym.

Would you care to elucidate.[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bmpkpeBJupo

We prefer the company usually found in the DL to that of the CL. Prefer to spend time with seasoned cruisers and exchange tales and experiences as opposed to sitting listening to one cruise wonders(Suites) for the most part.

The Duchess and I will be traveling POSH though, Port out Starboard home.