Momof3gurlz

Very happy to have you here Dani (a/k/a Starter of Wonderful Threads)!

Thanks for following, I hope it’s a great cruise!

Thanks OB! First cocktail onboard will of course be a Cosmopolitan 🙂.

Hi Bedfordmom! We’ve purchased the two different drink packages before on the ship but at full price for both. I learned right here on CC that you can do it in advance at whatever discounted price they’re offering at the time, but you can’t do it online, you have to call. I did it a week or so ago and was first told “no”. I hung up and called back a few days later and a different rep processed it no questions asked. Maybe we’ll see you onboard!

Thanks for following Sue!

Thanks Marietta!

Hi there! Enjoy Boston, it’s a great city. Who knows, maybe we’ll bump into each other on the ship.

Thanks for joining Bob! I can’t possibly hope to compare to those pro’s, but at least there’ll be pictures and who doesn’t love those. BTW, you need to do something about this…

Thanks so much for sharing this! Sorry you didn’t have better weather.

Thank you Graham!

Thanks for joining ( and posting the link for me)!

Thanks for coming along for the ride. I’m also looking forward to meeting everyone in March.

Thank you!

Thank you!

I wasn't sure how much CC would let me include in the first post, so I'll add a little more pre-cruise info here. How We Cruise For us a cruise is all about relaxing and unwinding. Yes, we're retired but let me tell you, retired folks are busy! How did we ever get anything done when we worked? We both enjoy reading. Sea days are spent on the pool deck doing just that, along with a good amount of people watch and listening to whatever music is played poolside. Hopefully the weather gods cooperate. Andy likes the casino (blackjack), me not so much. We love afternoon naps with the balcony door open. (There may or may not be a euphemism there 😉). Before dinner, we like to find a bar to sit at and love to chat with others or the bar staff. And we love listening to good live music. Shows are not really our thing but we do like comedy. Packing has begun, meaning everything I'm considering taking is pulled out. Weather stalking has also begun but it's a little early to be too accurate, so as that picture gets clearer I'll start narrowing down what will actually go in the suitcases. Since we're flying home on Southwest, luggage isn't really an issue with our 2 free bags each. I hope you'll follow along! Feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Okay, I started my “Live” for next weeks cruise 🫣! I’d post a link if I knew how LOL.

Welcome to my first Live report! We're less than a week from departure, so I figured I'd get this started. I debated doing this report but ultimately decided to go ahead since there aren't many out there for Voyager so hopefully this will benefit some. I'm pretty tech challenged so this is a stretch for me. I also don't have the writing skills of some of the well-known posters, nor do I have a fancy camera or GoPro. It'll just be my I phone and my 2 cents worth. My photography skills consist of point, shoot and hope for the best. I plan to update this at least once a day and answer any questions you may. **Disclaimer - this is all dependent on Internet speed on Voyager**. Please don't ask me to post web speeds or pings or anything like that -- I wouldn't know how LOL. I'll start with a little about us. We're Deb and Andy from RI. Both retired and the parents of 3 adult daughters and 5 grandchildren. We took a hiatus from cruising for quite a few years, focusing on our kids with school, sports, family trips, etc. We came back to cruising in 2013 for our 25th wedding anniversary, sailing on Explorer of the Seas and we were hooked. Our most recent cruise was in April of this year on Anthem of the Seas 7 nt Bahamas run out of Bayonne. About This Cruise I came across this while browsing sailings out of Boston for this year. I don't love to fly so the repositioning and only having to fly home was appealing to me. Also, the rates for a Jr Suite seemed quite reasonable. We typically sail in OV Balcony cabins but booking the Jr Suite for this cruise would bump us from Emerald to Diamond. Here's our itinerary: LEAVING FROM 10/30 - Boston, Massachusetts Departs at 4:00 PM 10/31 and 11/1 - Cruising 11/2 Perfect Day at Coco Cay, Bahamas From 8:00 AM '- 5:00 PM 11/3 - Cruising 11/4 - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic From 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM 11/5 - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas From 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM 11/6 - San Juan, Puerto Rico Arrives at 6:00 AM We're staying overnight in San Juan on 11/6 at the Casablanca Hotel and we fly home the next day on Southwest into our local airport here in RI. One of our daughters will drive us up to Boston on departure day and we can Uber home from the airport - it's a whole 7 miles. We've been to St Thomas several times and have visited quite a few beaches. With the later hours and if weather permits, I'd like to do a sunset catamaran sail. During the day we'll probably just walk around downtown. Puerto Plata is new to us, we plan to just check out the area. We're cruising with friends in January on NCL with a PP stop, so this time is more of scouting trip. I was hoping to book Coco Beach Club but it's sold out. I'll ask onboard to see if there are any cancellations, but not holding my breath. We have Voom internet and have purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package for me and the Refreshment Package for Andy. He doesn't drink alcohol but loves Diet Coke, virgin Pina Colada's and Bloody Mary's and is a coffee fiend. I'm not really a big drinker and we're lucky to break even with the packages, but for us it's worth the convenience, YMMV. No specialty dining reserved, we'll play that by ear. We're usually happy with the MDR and may check out the Windjammer options a couple of nights.

This is my concern with doing a Live review for our Voyager cruise next week, not wanting Andy to resent the time I spend on it. But my plan is to post updates while we’re (hopefully) sitting by the pool during the day or once we’ve settled in for the night.

The youngest will be 2 in January and the older one will be 4 in April. Andy’s hand is doing great. I believe because he’s been pretty religious about going to PT and doing the exercises at home. He poo-poo’d PT at first so I had to nag him but he’s a believer now. And I know what you mean about stubborn. He got back up on a ladder this past week. Only a few rungs and only with me as a spotter to keep it steady. Gotta love those cuddles!

Lucy looks to be seriously on the prowl. And that dinner looks excellent!

Another great Sea Dog review. Thanks for taking time out if your vacation to share it with us. I hope you have a safe drive home and give thaT shoulder a rest.

Doing well, thanks. We have our granddaughters today and overnight tonight. I just put them down for afternoon naps, ie: rest time for Nana & Papa 🙃!

As if I wasn’t having enough trouble keeping up with this thread and all the Live threads, CC was acting up for me yesterday. It kept freezing up, not letting me “like” posts, etc. I eventually just gave up and today it seems fine. @FromSea2ShiningSea sorry to hear about your positive tests. It sounds like you’re making the best of the situation. @Tree_skier I’d love to follow your POA trip here. @Sunshine3601 How are you feeling Debbie? @Luckynana How’s Jim doing? @ReneeFLL I could see the video just fine. Beautiful water.

Greg quick question about this drink. Do you just order a Kracken Lava Flow and they automatically add the floater? Or do you have to ask for the floater? Loved the stingray excursion photos and video. That water is amazing. Your Jamaica beach day looked very nice. Even with a few annoyances, it still beats a day at work!

I also love Wegmans. We have none in RI but there’s one just outside Boston, about an hour’s drive (yes, I love it so much I sometimes go up there). There are many around my oldest DD in PA so I always make a visit when we’re there. Same for us on long drives. Andy does the majority and I drive just to give him a rest. Funny, when I drive Andy can go right to sleep. I’m wide awake when he drives- hard to sleep with one eye on the road 🤣! Sounds like your 1st day back went well. I bet you’re looking forward to the weekend! Oh the sacrifices you make for us Bob 😉!