Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[George C]

2 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Interesting on the Radiance ladies that the OS balcony is half the size of the GS.  Love the layout of the OS...but not giving up balcony space for it.  We adore the GS on those ships.  🙂 

My favorite GS is 1600 on Brilliance it is a corner aft , slightly different floor plan .

[bobmacliberty]

14 hours ago, island lady said:

 

The last time we were there, we took a food and history walking tour (online...not through the ship) and really enjoyed the tour.  Would do it again, and learned so much about the area, the people, and some really great local food!  🙂 

 

Walking food tours are one of our favorite excursions.  We've done them in Old San Juan, Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris.  All were great.  We love the mix of local food and local history.  We've been very happy with Devour Tours.  Very knowledgeable tour guides and fairly small group sizes. 

[island lady]

2 minutes ago, George C said:

My favorite GS is 1600 on Brilliance it is a corner aft , slightly different floor plan .

 

Indeed a bit different layout.  Kind of an "L" shape and I seem to remember the "dance pole" in the middle?  😉 

[Ozark_Kid]

6 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Your kids were raised well!  4 way bean for me.

They have found two stops on the way up so far and one on the way back.  If we found one near Marble Head we would probably go even more.  We have been making Skyline from Skyline chili packs but it’s not the same. Hard to get the cheese that fine.  I am a five way guy. I always eat to much on the first stop.

[island lady]

1 minute ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Walking food tours are one of our favorite excursions.  We've done them in Old San Juan, Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris.  All were great.  We love the mix of local food and local history.  We've been very happy with Devour Tours.  Very knowledgeable tour guides and fairly small group sizes. 

 

Agree...those are our favorites.   Have also done one in Barbados...which was not as good, but the one in Falmouth was one of the best.  The meat patties reminded me of the Pasties in upper Michigan, but spicier.  😉 

 

Drive/walking food/history tour with a max of 8 people in a small van was also a favorite in St. Maarten.  Have done that one twice.  Loved it!  Begins at the Dutch cheese shop, just short walk from the gate to the port.  

[c-leg5]

18 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I guess I don’t understand the question.  This was about schedule changes.

The point was I thought St Martin now required testing. Were you visiting ports that already required testing?

[bobmacliberty]

14 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Both grandsons were in the tube for a slow ride. 

 

Reminds me of going boating several years ago with our neighbors.  They definitely were not giving "slow rides".  And yes, my daughters LOVED this, no matter how much it looks like they are being tortured in the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ozark_Kid]

11 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

You sir, are a great grandfather...thinking about what's best for your grandkids. 😁  Honeycomb (the brand of yoke that I have) is supposedly coming out with Xbox compatible peripherals soon.  If interested, I'd suggest that you watch closely and buy when they are released.  Their Bravo throttle quadrant for PC is still sold out everywhere, and I'm waiting on their Charlie rudder pedals to be released.

Thanks, grandkids are a blessing so we do what we can for them 😊.  I am bad about over analyzing. That is why I have not built a new computer the last 2 years.  So many parts to choose and then the shortages. Maybe with less to consider, I will get it done.

[Ozark_Kid]

13 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

The point was I thought St Martin now required testing. Were you visiting ports that already required testing?

Ok thanks.  I wasn’t aware of this.  We need to find out.  The other stops are St Thomas and CocoCay.  I know CocoCay is ok, I have not heard any requirements for St Thomas but it didn’t cross my mind to check.

[George C]

9 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Ok thanks.  I wasn’t aware of this.  We need to find out.  The other stops are St Thomas and CocoCay.  I know CocoCay is ok, I have not heard any requirements for St Thomas but it didn’t cross my mind to check.

There were no requirements for St Thomas last week. 

[Sheal]

@singinalotCrystal, what a pia.  Not only do you lose time trying to find a new flight but then they "forget" that they need to refund you and you have to go through the steps all over again.  They should be required to give passengers back their refund plus extra to cover the inconvenience. 

 

@sgmn  lovely spread, I have a thing for lemon cake and I would never turn down a serving of aloo gobi. 

 

@Arzeenaso jealous.  We had a 10 night on the Edge last year, lifted to this year and then Celebrity claimed "no 10 days cruises" per the CDC.  Yet the lift and shift option was to the 10 day Apex.  I opted out and picked the 10 day Reflection due to the ports.  They could have come up with a better excuse.  I think I am going to re-book something else, I am paying Edge prices for a ship I was on  almost 10 years ago. 

 

@LionesssHope you have time to stop and smell the roses.  I can't get over the number of cookies you made.  I used to do about 20 dozen at Christmas and I thought that was something.

 

 

[Sheal]

@island ladyDo you remember the names of the companies for the food tours in St. Maarten and Falmouth?  Thanks!

 

@h2oskibum You and your wife sound like such wonderful grandparents.  I'm thinking the kids might not want to go home to mom and dad ever!

 

@bobmaclibertyThat picture of the girl's face's makes me think that was what I looked like when my daughter made us go tubing on one of the islands.  I thought for sure we were going to flip over any minute.

[lenquixote66]

14 hours ago, jagsfan said:

I made a right turn on a red years ago on Long Island. The cop popped up out of nowhere. My friend and both said that right on red was legal in Florida. 
I had stopped, and made sure the way was clear before I turned. 
The policeman basically said hogwash, it’s illegal everywhere. 
My uncle told me he knew someone who would take care of the ticket, so I gave it to him. After I was home in Florida, I wrote to double check, and he said it was taken care of. 
It was at least a year later that I got a letter from the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles saying my license would be suspended if I didn’t pay the ticket to New York within 7 days. 
Luckily, they gave me the info to do it, and there was no extra fine tacked on. 
I was sure disillusioned about my uncle, who was always the big shot in the family. 

 

As a Long Island resident I can tell you that every town has its own rules.A right turn on red was permissible in many towns but recently many put up signs reading no turn on red.

About 25 years ago I was driving in NYC and made a left turn at an intersection that I had made the same turn on hundreds of times.

On that particular day I failed to notice a small sigh that read no turns between 2 and 5 PM on weekdays.

[Ozark_Kid]

35 minutes ago, George C said:

There were no requirements for St Thomas last week. 

Thanks for the update. I hope it stays that way. Much can change from now to October.  Do you know if it was ok to take the ferry to St John’s while you were there?

[lenquixote66]

19 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Have any of you visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland OH?  We’re looking for a 4-5 day road trip and this might fit the bill.  Looks like about a 10 hour drive from here.  We’ve already done Baseball HOF in Cooperstown or we could wrap that in.  Maybe time it to see a baseball game and cross another MLB field off the list.  

In 2014 we did a driving tour to Cleveland .We were there 4 days.We visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ,the Indians stadium and took a tour ,Little Italy where we had dinner one night,a gambling casino,a mall,the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch one day ,an Art museum ,a park and did a lot of in town walking.We went with friends who live in NJ and drove to their house,left our car there and went with them .We stayed at a hotel in a suburb of Cleveland .

[BonTexasNY]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Reminds me of going boating several years ago with our neighbors.  They definitely were not giving "slow rides".  And yes, my daughters LOVED this, no matter how much it looks like they are being tortured in the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

Love the pictures of the their hair standing up.  It's like when you go on a roller coaster and scream your guts off.  Then when you finally get off you go on the line to experience that thrill again.

[Ozark_Kid]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

Drive/walking food/history tour with a max of 8 people in a small van was also a favorite in St. Maarten.  Have done that one twice.  Loved it!  Begins at the Dutch cheese shop, just short walk from the gate to the port.  

This sounds like a nice new thing for us to try while at St Maarten.  I love finding new food ideas and the family likes me finding new good tasting food to prepare for them 😊.  Also seeing your like for the Falmouth tour and others post pointing out things to do at Jamaica, I may be getting of the ship next time we are there!😲 

[island lady]

38 minutes ago, Sheal said:

@island ladyDo you remember the names of the companies for the food tours in St. Maarten and Falmouth?  Thanks!

 

@h2oskibum You and your wife sound like such wonderful grandparents.  I'm thinking the kids might not want to go home to mom and dad ever!

 

@bobmaclibertyThat picture of the girl's face's makes me think that was what I looked like when my daughter made us go tubing on one of the islands.  I thought for sure we were going to flip over any minute.

 

No problem...the one is Jamaica is "Jamaica Culinary Tours"

 

The one in St. Maarten is "Flavors of St. Maarten".   We did the driving tour.  

 

I highly recommend both.  Great time!  🙂 

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

And yes, my daughters LOVED this, no matter how much it looks like they are being tortured in the photos.

 

Absolutely love the Titian hair your daughter has 🥰

[George C]

30 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Thanks for the update. I hope it stays that way. Much can change from now to October.  Do you know if it was ok to take the ferry to St John’s while you were there?

Sorry , we just went downtown, not sure about the ferry . 

[bobmacliberty]

13 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Absolutely love the Titian hair your daughter has 🥰

 

It's actually a little more red-ish than the pictures show.  She has fully embraced being a red head.  We used to tell her that she is lucky because women will pay a lot of money to have the same color of hair that she gets for free.

[Ozark_Kid]

28 minutes ago, island lady said:

The one in St. Maarten is "Flavors of St. Maarten".   We did the driving tour.  

This is getting tempting.  How long is it.  I assume it satisfied your noon meal.

[island lady]

56 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

This sounds like a nice new thing for us to try while at St Maarten.  I love finding new food ideas and the family likes me finding new good tasting food to prepare for them 😊.  Also seeing your like for the Falmouth tour and others post pointing out things to do at Jamaica, I may be getting of the ship next time we are there!😲 

 

I can usually say I make sure to get off in each port...though some are not favorites.  But I can't say that any longer.  Belize has become a "stay on the ship" stop for us this last time.  Long bouncy water taxi into a rather dirty town.  First time there we did try a tour...was a disaster.  

 

I am sure some really like it...but this is now a "pass" for us.  Good relaxing day on the ship, especially after too many margarita experiences in both Cozumel and Costa Maya.  😄 

[island lady]

24 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

This is getting tempting.  How long is it.  I assume it satisfied your noon meal.

 

Oh yes!  No going hungry on this tour!!  Four hours, five different restaurants...including a decadent French pastry place at the end, and a popular ice cream stop.  😉 

 

Toured both the Dutch and French sides.  Great history, wonderful guides.  First one was six ladies from CC, the lady tour guide, myself, and Bucky as the only guy.  He is a "ham" anyway, and the ladies loved teasing him.  😄 

[island lady]

Once more a "clammy, cold, drizzly, cloudy, gloomy" day up here in Downeast Maine.  Ah well, was a good time to enjoy some left over home made Chicken noodle soup for lunch, and putting some Turkey tenders in my little crockpot for dinner.   

 

Duh, forgot to buy cream of mushroom or chicken soup (which I usually top it with)...so time to get creative again.  Made a thick sauce with fresh mushrooms, onions, garlic, fat fee 1/2 & 1/2, chicken base, flour, and lots of "butta".    Let it cool, then "plop on top"...start it up.  

 

Looks, smells, and the sample tastes oh so good.  Hmmm...I am going to have to repeat that the next time! 😋