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

[Arzeena]

We have reached St Croix. Finally! About time! POD is to walk around town, get a TSOD and then dip feet in the ocean, relax on a beach.

A turtle greeted me near the dock as I got onto my balcony to see the first glimpse of St Croix.

Masks are mandatory inside and outside in St Croix. I am certain many will not follow, but we intend to follow and enjoy ourselves....beggars can't be choosers LOL.....we want to go out so we have to follow rules. Just so happy to finally be here. Every cruise before, this port was never reached: emergencies, storms and what not!

Fifth time lucky!!!!! Yayyy!

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

We have reached St Croix. Finally! About time! POD is to walk around town, get a TSOD and then dip feet in the ocean, relax on a beach.

A turtle greeted me near the dock as I got onto my balcony to see the first glimpse of St Croix.

Masks are mandatory inside and outside in St Croix. I am certain many will not follow, but we intend to follow and enjoy ourselves....beggars can't be choosers LOL.....we want to go out so we have to follow rules. Just so happy to finally be here. Every cruise before, this port was never reached: emergencies, storms and what not!

Fifth time lucky!!!!! Yayyy!

We have only been to St. Croix once, and it was not even on the itinerary, when Serenade made a refuelling stop for a few hours.

 

Sorry, somehow I missed it, which ship are you on?

[Sea Dog]

10 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

the thought of walking around the park carrying a big camera is not appealing...

Total agree. The phone cameras (I have iPhone 11 ProMax) are really good. It makes it so much easier to not have to carry a lot. That being said my cruise this November I am going to take my Nikon as well as my new go pro 10. I wanted to be able to have a variety of shots.

[Sea Dog]

51 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Masks are mandatory inside and outside in St Croix.

Thanks for the update on St. Croix. I was wondering what their policy would be. Any other restrictions?

[xpcdoojk]

11 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

So one of the iconic dessert at the Disney parks on both coasts is the Dole Whip pineapple soft serve.  Just Google it or search it on YouTube and you will see lots of info on it. As with all things Disney, it’s not cheap but Cheapo Dad is willing to splurge once a day on special treats.  We ordered it on the phone app but even then, the wait to finally get one from start to end took over 40 minutes.

 

 

As we sat around Main Street eating our dessert, a Disney float came by

 

Let it Go, Let it Go…

 

 

Actually after I came home I realized that Float looked familiar and sure enough, it was the same Float used in the December 2015 parade. Guess Frozen is timeless/season less…

 

Same float from Christmas 2015 parade

 

 

 

Locally a man named Dan Fortner created Pineapple Whip in 1974.  It is identical to Dole’s version, which I have eaten at the Dole Plantation on Oahu.  They sell them on the streets here when the weather warms up in little food wagons with a hula girl on top.  They do Strawberry and Grape too.  Not a fan of grape.  

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

We have reached St Croix. Finally! About time! POD is to walk around town, get a TSOD and then dip feet in the ocean, relax on a beach.

A turtle greeted me near the dock as I got onto my balcony to see the first glimpse of St Croix.

Masks are mandatory inside and outside in St Croix. I am certain many will not follow, but we intend to follow and enjoy ourselves....beggars can't be choosers LOL.....we want to go out so we have to follow rules. Just so happy to finally be here. Every cruise before, this port was never reached: emergencies, storms and what not!

Fifth time lucky!!!!! Yayyy!

Excellent!  Happy to hear you made it.  

Just reminded me I bought this adorable wood door stopper at the outdoor craft market to the left of dock. 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Sunshine3601

[bobmacliberty]

12 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Total agree. The phone cameras (I have iPhone 11 ProMax) are really good. It makes it so much easier to not have to carry a lot. That being said my cruise this November I am going to take my Nikon as well as my new go pro 10. I wanted to be able to have a variety of shots.

 

I haven't used my big Canon in more than a year.  My iPhone 12 ProMax takes good photos for the majority of what I shoot now.  I shoot with the LightRoom app in RAW and tweak in post if I want the picture to be a little better. 

 

I've thought about switching to a mirrorless DSLR for the few times that I need DSLR flexibility.  Quite a bit smaller and lighter weight.  For example, I wanted to take a slow shutter speed shot of the waterfall that I posted the other day to get that cotton candy water look.  I can slow down the shutter speed on my phone but can't adjust the aperture to compensate.  It was totally blown out.  Would have been nice having my Canon but would have also needed a tripod and ND filter.  Those kind of shots are probably less than 5% of what I shoot...maybe even 1%.  Maybe I'll get back into photography for more than just travel snapshots now that I'm retired.  

[bobmacliberty]

Follow-up to our moving debacle that I posted about a couple of months ago.  Recall that just about everything that came off the truck was damaged in some way and we had a couple of tables with legs completely broken off. 

I contacted our move coordinator who sent me a claims form to fill out.  You list each damaged item on a separate line on the form along with a description of the damage, how much it cost originally, where it came from originally, and the estimated cost to repair/replace.  I filled out the form and guesstimated the repair/replace cost as best I could.  There were 19 total items, 12 of which I said would need to be replaced rather than repaired.  

 

Within a few days, I got a call from an assessor who scheduled a time to come to our house and review the damage.  He was a nice guy.  He does not work for the moving company but rather works for a furniture repair place in Jacksonville who is contracted by Allied to do this work.  He essentially works full time on moving damages.  Makes sense as he will have a better idea of what it will really take to fix something, and his company can do the fixing for the estimated cost if needed.  He gave me the impression that he wanted to fairly evaluate the damage, rather than try to low ball me with an estimate.

 

He took one look at the pedestal table with the base completely destroyed (pic above) and said, "Wow...just wow".  He took pictures of everything and said that he hasn't seen anything that bad.  I asked for a copy of his report and was told that he couldn't give it to me because he was contracted by Allied.  I'd need to request a copy from Allied.  I waited a couple of weeks and then emailed my move coordinator asking for a copy.  She gave me a contact name/number/email in their claims department.

 

All along, I was fully expecting to have Allied play games with the process...require me to resubmit forms because of missing info, argue over what something was worth, not give me the assessment report, etc.  Our neighbors had moving problems (different company) and had to jump through several hoops.  He finally decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and gave up.  He thinks that is their business model...make it painful and many people will just go away.  To my surprise, that didn't happen.

 

The next day, before I even tried to contact the person in the Allied claims department, I received an email from her saying that they had reviewed my claim and were offering compensation per the document that she attached.  The document listed every item and for every item, the compensation was exactly what I had asked for.  We had a check for 100% of what I requested a couple of days later.  I don't know if that's normal for Allied, or if my pictures of some of the damage scared them enough (the power of social media) that they decided to give me what I wanted.  Either way, I'm happy.

 

Looking back at it with less emotion now, I'm not happy with what happened during the move but happy with how Allied responded.  Almost everything that was damaged can be repaired/replaced and in some cases we can now purchase new things that better fit our new house.  The only exception was the round walnut table that came from Micheline's grandparents that Micheline had lovingly restored.  Still not sure if we should have someone try to replace the broken pedestal leg or buy something new.  I'll leave that up to Micheline...we have the money to do either.

[Sea Dog]

26 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Maybe I'll get back into photography for more than just travel snapshots now that I'm retired.  

Bob I'm right there too. After being a professional cameraman for 41 years I too want to take a break but I also like good pictures for my trips and reviews. Twangster has been a big influence on me about taking quality photos. The iPhone is perfect for just about every instance.

 

Like you said sometimes you need that tweak ability that only a DSLR can do. Right now I am waffling on whether to get the Insta360 X2  like twangster has for those great 360 photos and videos. The problem is that it has a learning curve and you need to spend a lot of time on the app editing everything just right. I don't know if I want to work that hard on my cruise. Decisions....decisions.

[Sunshine3601]

9 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Follow-up to our moving debacle that I posted about a couple of months ago.  Recall that just about everything that came off the truck was damaged in some way and we had a couple of tables with legs completely broken off. 

I contacted our move coordinator who sent me a claims form to fill out.  You list each damaged item on a separate line on the form along with a description of the damage, how much it cost originally, where it came from originally, and the estimated cost to repair/replace.  I filled out the form and guesstimated the repair/replace cost as best I could.  There were 19 total items, 12 of which I said would need to be replaced rather than repaired.  

 

Within a few days, I got a call from an assessor who scheduled a time to come to our house and review the damage.  He was a nice guy.  He does not work for the moving company but rather works for a furniture repair place in Jacksonville who is contracted by Allied to do this work.  He essentially works full time on moving damages.  Makes sense as he will have a better idea of what it will really take to fix something, and his company can do the fixing for the estimated cost if needed.  He gave me the impression that he wanted to fairly evaluate the damage, rather than try to low ball me with an estimate.

 

He took one look at the pedestal table with the base completely destroyed (pic above) and said, "Wow...just wow".  He took pictures of everything and said that he hasn't seen anything that bad.  I asked for a copy of his report and was told that he couldn't give it to me because he was contracted by Allied.  I'd need to request a copy from Allied.  I waited a couple of weeks and then emailed my move coordinator asking for a copy.  She gave me a contact name/number/email in their claims department.

 

All along, I was fully expecting to have Allied play games with the process...require me to resubmit forms because of missing info, argue over what something was worth, not give me the assessment report, etc.  Our neighbors had moving problems (different company) and had to jump through several hoops.  He finally decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and gave up.  He thinks that is their business model...make it painful and many people will just go away.  To my surprise, that didn't happen.

 

The next day, before I even tried to contact the person in the Allied claims department, I received an email from her saying that they had reviewed my claim and were offering compensation per the document that she attached.  The document listed every item and for every item, the compensation was exactly what I had asked for.  We had a check for 100% of what I requested a couple of days later.  I don't know if that's normal for Allied, or if my pictures of some of the damage scared them enough (the power of social media) that they decided to give me what I wanted.  Either way, I'm happy.

 

Looking back at it with less emotion now, I'm not happy with what happened during the move but happy with how Allied responded.  Almost everything that was damaged can be repaired/replaced and in some cases we can now purchase new things that better fit our new house.  The only exception was the round walnut table that came from Micheline's grandparents that Micheline had lovingly restored.  Still not sure if we should have someone try to replace the broken pedestal leg or buy something new.  I'll leave that up to Micheline...we have the money to do either.

Thank you for the update.  Just the other day Eric was asking me if I heard any update on your claim.   I was afraid to ask you.     Happy they did the right thing!

 

And I was surprised that Eric actually does listen to my stories from CC.

[Sea Dog]

8 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

but happy with how Allied responded

I'm happy that Allied decided to be a good company and take care of it's customers. What a novel concept. Glad you got it resolved to your satisfaction.

[Ozark_Kid]

3 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Expecting 1-2” of rain with some flooding.  

We are getting a nice rain right now.  So thankful for it.  We haven’t had rain in weeks.  The ponds and the river is low so it would have to rain a lot before floods here.

 

Thanks for posting the Oasis pics.  I love cruising under that bridge.  It looks like the ship gets so close to the bridge when you approach it.

[Ozark_Kid]

It’s my wife’s and I 42 anniversary.  Time sure does fly by especially when you are enjoying life with such a great as one that I have been blessed with.  So many great memories.  So many we both are realizing we forgot many moments as we go through photos.  So thankful we took them.  I need to take the time to make memories books with the photos.

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

For example, I wanted to take a slow shutter speed shot of the waterfall that I posted the other day to get that cotton candy water look.

Have you tried taking a live photo with the iphone 12 promax, and then using the long exposure effects to get this look?  It works pretty well with waterfalls or moving water.

 

For those who do not know about this, it is accessed as follows.

 

1. Shoot a photo using live mode

2. Select this photo in the photos app, and swipe up.

3. You can then select from the effects of loop, bounce, or long exposure

 

For a waterfall, loop will give the effect of water continually flowing.  Bounce will show water flowing down, then up.  Long exposure will give the cotton candy look.

 

You just have to brace the phone with a gorilla pod or monopod while it takes that 3 second photo.

[h20skibum]

18 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

It’s my wife’s and I 42 anniversary.  Time sure does fly by especially when you are enjoying life with such a great as one that I have been blessed with.  So many great memories.  So many we both are realizing we forgot many moments as we go through photos.  So thankful we took them.  I need to take the time to make memories books with the photos.

Wishing you a happy anniversary!!

[lenquixote66]

13 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Yeah, Lenny,

 

As the saying goes, this isn't your grandpa's Disneyland...

Disneyland was always ahead of its time.

[ATG]

29 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

It’s my wife’s and I 42 anniversary.  Time sure does fly by especially when you are enjoying life with such a great as one that I have been blessed with.  So many great memories.  So many we both are realizing we forgot many moments as we go through photos.  So thankful we took them.  I need to take the time to make memories books with the photos.

Happy anniversary!  I understand how time flies when you’re lucky enough to be with that perfect person.  DH and I celebrate 47 years the end of the month.

[lenquixote66]

14 hours ago, vettprincess said:

We were at the opening of Disneyland in CA and then at the opening of Disneyworld FL 1972.

Have not been back to either one since.

What was Disneyland like in 1955 ?

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Follow-up to our moving debacle that I posted about a couple of months ago.  Recall that just about everything that came off the truck was damaged in some way and we had a couple of tables with legs completely broken off. 

I contacted our move coordinator who sent me a claims form to fill out.  You list each damaged item on a separate line on the form along with a description of the damage, how much it cost originally, where it came from originally, and the estimated cost to repair/replace.  I filled out the form and guesstimated the repair/replace cost as best I could.  There were 19 total items, 12 of which I said would need to be replaced rather than repaired.  

 

Within a few days, I got a call from an assessor who scheduled a time to come to our house and review the damage.  He was a nice guy.  He does not work for the moving company but rather works for a furniture repair place in Jacksonville who is contracted by Allied to do this work.  He essentially works full time on moving damages.  Makes sense as he will have a better idea of what it will really take to fix something, and his company can do the fixing for the estimated cost if needed.  He gave me the impression that he wanted to fairly evaluate the damage, rather than try to low ball me with an estimate.

 

He took one look at the pedestal table with the base completely destroyed (pic above) and said, "Wow...just wow".  He took pictures of everything and said that he hasn't seen anything that bad.  I asked for a copy of his report and was told that he couldn't give it to me because he was contracted by Allied.  I'd need to request a copy from Allied.  I waited a couple of weeks and then emailed my move coordinator asking for a copy.  She gave me a contact name/number/email in their claims department.

 

All along, I was fully expecting to have Allied play games with the process...require me to resubmit forms because of missing info, argue over what something was worth, not give me the assessment report, etc.  Our neighbors had moving problems (different company) and had to jump through several hoops.  He finally decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and gave up.  He thinks that is their business model...make it painful and many people will just go away.  To my surprise, that didn't happen.

 

The next day, before I even tried to contact the person in the Allied claims department, I received an email from her saying that they had reviewed my claim and were offering compensation per the document that she attached.  The document listed every item and for every item, the compensation was exactly what I had asked for.  We had a check for 100% of what I requested a couple of days later.  I don't know if that's normal for Allied, or if my pictures of some of the damage scared them enough (the power of social media) that they decided to give me what I wanted.  Either way, I'm happy.

 

Looking back at it with less emotion now, I'm not happy with what happened during the move but happy with how Allied responded.  Almost everything that was damaged can be repaired/replaced and in some cases we can now purchase new things that better fit our new house.  The only exception was the round walnut table that came from Micheline's grandparents that Micheline had lovingly restored.  Still not sure if we should have someone try to replace the broken pedestal leg or buy something new.  I'll leave that up to Micheline...we have the money to do either.

That is excellent news Bob.

[grapau27]

42 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

It’s my wife’s and I 42 anniversary.  Time sure does fly by especially when you are enjoying life with such a great as one that I have been blessed with.  So many great memories.  So many we both are realizing we forgot many moments as we go through photos.  So thankful we took them.  I need to take the time to make memories books with the photos.

Congratulations on your 42nd wedding anniversary.

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, Arzeena said:

We have reached St Croix. Finally! About time! POD is to walk around town, get a TSOD and then dip feet in the ocean, relax on a beach.

A turtle greeted me near the dock as I got onto my balcony to see the first glimpse of St Croix.

Masks are mandatory inside and outside in St Croix. I am certain many will not follow, but we intend to follow and enjoy ourselves....beggars can't be choosers LOL.....we want to go out so we have to follow rules. Just so happy to finally be here. Every cruise before, this port was never reached: emergencies, storms and what not!

Fifth time lucky!!!!! Yayyy!

I hope you are having a great time

[grapau27]

3 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

What was Disneyland like in 1955 ?

We went to Disneyland Paris (Euro Disney 1992) a few weeks after it opened in April 1992.

Our first visit to WDW Orlando was in October 1992.

[lenquixote66]

49 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

It’s my wife’s and I 42 anniversary.  Time sure does fly by especially when you are enjoying life with such a great as one that I have been blessed with.  So many great memories.  So many we both are realizing we forgot many moments as we go through photos.  So thankful we took them.  I need to take the time to make memories books with the photos.

Congratulations.My wife and I celebrated our 54th. 7 months ago by looking at our 60 photo albums of memories.It was wonderful.

[grapau27]

18 minutes ago, ATG said:

Happy anniversary!  I understand how time flies when you’re lucky enough to be with that perfect person.  DH and I celebrate 47 years the end of the month.

Congratulations on your 47th wedding anniversary at the end of this month.

[Sea Dog]

50 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

It’s my wife’s and I 42 anniversary.

Happy Anniversary wished to you. Life goes by fast doesn't it? Cheers to both of you!