2chiefs

Why watch TV? You are on vacation!

😊

15 hours ago, biomedbob said:

 I think a 20000 aMh charger could start a Mack Truck!

Need to be prepared. You never know when you need to start one.

On 2/11/2020 at 11:15 AM, dasmonkey said:

Was on Millennium in June of 2019 and it was unlimited at any bar.

The free internet minutes on Celebrity are FAR better for "me", I like having 90 minutes to use when I want during the entire cruise and NOT a 24 hour block.  

Actually it's 2-24 hour blocks if you have two in the cabin.

For us, we stay off the internet as much as possible. It's a cruise! Maybe just a quick email and some air, hotel, cruise bookings as needed.

WiFi generally too slow anyway.

12 hours ago, ShipWalker said:

 

Gaffer tape re-wrapped onto a pen or pencil. Not messy like duct tape when removed. 👍

I had to look that up. Sounds like a great duct tape replacement. Where can you buy it?

We have used duct tape to hold the drawers shut during heavy seas. On our last cruise, some friends we met broke their suitcase and Sallie gave them our duct tape to hold it together for their trip home. They were very grateful and swore to carry duct tape on their cruises henceforth.

13 hours ago, DntlGal said:

I take a picture of the daily newsletter showing where we are and the date. I know all the pictures I take after that are from that port/sea day and the date. Repeat every day. <<<SNIP>>>

We do this too. It's a great idea. We also take a picture of our sea pass cards and room number...

We have a nice "pirate's treasue chest" decorative piece. When you open it, it's full of these tokens and plastic beads from Mardi Gras.... 

🤑

1 hour ago, TNcruising02 said:

Great! I hope Harmony has them too. I use the heck out of those and it's so convenient when they are right by the buffet.

LOL

Look back a couple of posts! ... Illbcruzn4life posted a picture of the Harmony wash stations on this thread. One thing Harmony has that I like better than others is the paper towels for drying your hands. Much better than the high speed wind machines blowing bacteria all over the place! 

One other consideration is that there are several docks including one near town. So they're not all at the same place at the same time. We've never seen overcrowding with 8 or more ships in Coz at the same time.

We once had 3 medical evacs on one 7-day cruise! One by helo and two by boat after diverting to nearby ports.

It happens often.

2 hours ago, sheezsmith said:

We did a scenic railway tour on St. Kitts, it was excellent. We booked it on the ship, if it's still available, I would suggest that if you would like to see all over the island.

We loved the scenic railway tour on St Kitts. One of our favorite tours!

We have been on the Freedom many times and it's one of our favorite ships. Love the solarium. We have not sailed the Freedom out of San Juan but have sailed out of there several times on other ships.

In San Juan, we have stayed at the Caribe Hilton. Not a long taxi or Uber to the ship. Keep in mind that as someone else pointed out, the Freedom is not docked at the pier by Old Town. They dock at the Pan American pier. There really isn't anything close to the Pan American pier so a short taxi or Uber will be required from any hotel. Regarding taxis, we found that there were fixed rates from the airport to various hotels etc so there are no worries using a taxi vs Uber. Prices were not bad. As I recall it was about about $20 - $25 from Airport to hotel and about the same from hotel to ship. Uber would most likely be less.

San Juan itineraries are port intensive which we like a lot! We try to do B2B cruises due to having to fly.

T

1 hour ago, TNcruising02 said:

Lately, the ships I have been on have those automatic hand washing machines near the buffet. Those were Carnival ships. If Royal doesn't have anything like that near the buffet area I will just bring the individual hand wipe packets.

RCI has them too. We noticed that they retrofitted them in the WJ on the Adventure OTS on our last cruise...

22 minutes ago, Cruiser_M said:

I'd like a battery-operated light to use in the cabin's bathroom on our future cruises. What have you tried and like? I think I read some of you have battery-operated tea lights. Do they have switches? Do you leave them on 24 hours or just turn them on before you go to bed? Anything else I should take into consideration? I'm buying travel supplies now while I'm thinking about it. Thank you!

 

Another thought on those luggage tags with the metal straps... In addition to using them as we board the ship, we also use them when we put the luggage outside the room the last night to be taken off the ship. Works out very well. 

Yes the tea lights have switches on them and we turn them on and off as needed

42 minutes ago, lalalisa said:

That sounds like a good plan.  The others that say they go wash their hands....so what do you do with your plate of food? lol  Seriously though, I'm not too worried about it.  I always visit the buffet multiple times and have never gotten sick on a cruise (knock on wood).  

This is a good topic. Some folks take it to the extreme and some don't take it serious enough. I suppose there is some middle ground that makes sense. I've seen some nasty habits to cause concern but I can't let it ruin my vacation. We wash our hands, get our food and then sanitize our hands with sanitizer  before we eat. The only alternative is to stay away from buffets altogether and trust that the crew is trained and committed.

Remember back when the buffet in the windjammer was all served by crew? You had to walk down the line with your tray and point!

High anxiety can ruin a vacation.....

17 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

<<<SNIP>>>

 

No free photos or 3 coins "Spin to Lose" on Celebrity.

 

<<<SNIP>>>

 

 

What do you mean "Spin to lose"? We always win. We take home 3 beautiful tokens every time.

LOL

Click Bait? Bait & Switch?

Really looks deceiving....

Another version of WOW

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

I do this as well... saves that last-day scramble for pen and paper! 

We used to make them specific for the cruise like the (redacted) one below but there are always wasted left overs.

Now we use generic ones.

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

Yeah, I figured from your picture that you don't use a lot of hair styling tools!  LOL

Sallie just corrected me as well.... LOL

T

2 hours ago, jagsfan said:

For non-Oasis class ships, I bring a couple of battery operated tea lights for the bathroom at night. From the Dollar Store, cheap and really lightweight,  they give enough light not to have to turn in the bathroom light at night, and one will last through a 27 day cruise. 

Side note:

Also, the tea lamps are cheaper than what you can buy the batteries that are installed in them for. If you use the same size batteries elsewhere, just buy the tea lamps, take the good, less expensive battery out, and throw the tea lamp away.

T

2 hours ago, shirazcruiser said:

I also bring "return address labels" so I don't have to fill out as much info on the disembarkation luggage tags. 

We also bring cruise "business cards when exchanging contact info with new friends we meet.

T

2 hours ago, brillohead said:

A "flat iron" is for straightening hair.... they are allowed under Royal's rules, just like curling irons and hair dryers.  

A clothing iron, on the other hand, is not allowed.  

LOL

My bad! Didn't know the difference.....

T

Drink a Corona and relax....

3 hours ago, StarboardPropeller said:

After having to “postpone” our Asia cruise this month, we decided on a last minute Royal sailing. We have never sailed on Royal till now. Anyone else surprised at the difference in recognition and benefits from Celebrity’s Captains Club Elite to Diamond? Not the same benefit structure that’s for sure. 

We have met many first time RCI cruisers from Celebrity in the Diamond lounge that have raved about the RCI Diamond level being better than Celebrity's. I've never heard it the other way around..

(We like cruising Celebrity however....)

T

Hanging car air fresheners to hang from the ceiling lights in the cabin. Toss at the end of the cruise.

Duct Tape!

T

12 hours ago, shirazcruiser said:

<<<SNIP>>>

 I bring a flat iron to touch up wrinkled/washed clothes.

<<<SNIP>>>

 

Last time Sallie brought one (many cruises ago), I ended up in the naughty room.

T